Three men were standing in line to get into
Heaven one day. Apparently, it had been a pretty busy day, though, so Peter had to tell
the first one, "Heaven's getting pretty close to full today, and I've been asked to
admit only people who have had particularly horrible deaths. So, what's your story?"
So the first man replies, "Well, for a
while, I've suspected my wife has been cheating on me, so today I came home early and
tried to catch her red-handed. As I came into my 25th floor apartment, I could tell
something was wrong, but all my searching around didn't reveal where this other guy could
have been hiding. Finally, I went out to the balcony, and sure enough, there was this man
hanging off the railing, 25 floors above the ground! By now, I was really mad, so I
started beating on him and kicking him, but wouldn't you know it, he wouldn't fall off.
So, finally, I went back into my apartment and got a hammer and started hammering on his
fingers. Of course, he couldn't stand that for long, so he let go and fell -- but even
after 25 stories, he fell into the bushes, stunned, but OK. I couldn't stand it any more,
so I ran into the kitchen, grabbed the fridge and threw it over the edge where it landed
on him, killing him instantly. But all of the stress and anger go to me, and I had a heart
attack, and died right there on the balcony. "That sounds like a petty bad day to
me," said Peter, and let the man in.
The second man comes up and Peter explains
to him about Heaven being full, and again asks for his story. "It's been a very
strange day. You see, I live on the 26th floor of my apartment building, and every morning
I do my exercises out on my balcony. Well, this morning, I must have slipped or something,
because I fell over the edge. But I got lucky, and caught the railing of the balcony on
the floor below me. I knew I couldn't hang on for very long, when suddenly, this man burst
out onto the balcony. I thought for sure I was saved, when he started beating on me and
kicking me. I held on the best I could until he ran into the apartment and grabbed a
hammer and started pounding on my hands. Finally, I just let go, but again, I got lucky
and fell into the bushes below, stunned but all right. Just when I was thinking I was
going to be OK, this refrigerator comes falling out of the sky and crushes me instantly,
and now I'm here." Once again, Peter had to concede that that sounded like a pretty
horrible death.
The third man came to the front of the line, and again the
whole process was repeated. Peter explained that Heaven was full, and asked for his story.
"Picture this," says the third man, "I'm hiding naked inside a
refrigerator..."