From todays Inbox:

On the first day, God created the dog and said, "Sit
all day by the door
of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks
past. For this, I
will give you a life span of twenty years."

The dog said, "That's a long time to be barking. How
about only ten years
and I'll give you back the other ten"?

So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said,
"Entertain people, do
tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a
twenty-year life
span."

The monkey said, "Monkey tricks for twenty years?
That's a pretty long
time to perform. How about I give you back ten like
the Dog did"?

And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow and said, "You
must go into the
field with the farmer all day long and suffer under
the sun, have calves
and give milk to support the farmer's family. For
this, I will give you a
life span of sixty years."

The cow said, "That's kind of a tough life you want me
to live for sixty
years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other
forty"?

And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man and said, "Eat,
sleep, play, marry and
enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty
years."

But man said, "Only twenty years? Could you possibly
give me my twenty,
the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave
back, and the ten the
dog gave back. That makes eighty, okay"?

"Okay," said God, "You asked for it."

So that is why for our first twenty years, we eat,
sleep, play and enjoy
ourselves. For the next forty years, we slave in the
sun to support our
family. For the next ten years, we do monkey tricks to
entertain the
grandchildren. And for the last ten years, we sit on
the front porch and
bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you. Now go forth.