You can’t fool a nurse—especially one who remembers grudges and has access to industrial-strength tape.
A motorcycle officer learned that the hard way. Rushed to the hospital for appendicitis, surgery went perfectly, but the next morning he felt a strange tugging on his chest. Confused and anxious, he finally looked—and discovered three strips of strong tape across his chest, marked:
“GET WELL QUICK… FROM THE NURSE YOU GAVE A TICKET TO LAST WEEK.”
The nurse he had pulled over weeks earlier hadn’t forgotten. Laughter from the nurses’ station confirmed the prank: justice had been served.
But that story isn’t the only reminder not to underestimate people. In a quiet town, a retired farmer opened a fake clinic, claiming:
“GET TREATED FOR $500 — IF NOT CURED, GET $1,000 BACK.”
Dr. Young, a skeptical young physician, tried to exploit it. Claiming he’d lost taste, memory, and eyesight, he paid for “treatments” from the old man’s mysterious boxes—only to discover the “medicine” was gasoline, costing him $500 each time. By the end, when the old man finally returned the $1,000, it was only $500.
The lesson? Authority, education, and confidence mean little if you underestimate someone with patience, wit, and experience. Pride and money can vanish in an instant—sometimes with tape, sometimes with clever trickery, and always with a lesson in humility.