A visitor to a small town noticed some activity on a street corner. Some loiterers outside a saloon were having some fun with the village idiot. A barfly held some money in each hand and said, "which would you like? The nice, shiny 50-cent piece or the dirty old dollar bill?" The village idiot replied, "The shiny 50-cent piece." Everybody laughed as the loiterer handed him the coin. Another barfly stepped forth. Same question. Same answer. More laughter as the alleged, dunce got another half-dollar. After watching this four times, the out-of-towner could stand it no longer. He walked up to the village idiot and said, "Don't you know that the dollar bill is worth twice as much as the 50-cent pieces?" "I know that." "Then why do you keep picking the coin?" "Because when I pick the dollar bill, they stop playing the game. Sometimes it is easier to fool the people by looking like a fool"