Ninety Nine Percent Poison Free

A little boy was helping his grand-father work on a bicycle in the garage when he noticed a small bottle on an upper shelf. “Grandpa,” the curious boy asked, “what is stry-ro-chn-ine?” “Stry-ro-chi-nine?” the grand-father replied, “what are you trying to sound out?” The little boy pointed toward the lone bottle, and the grand-father said, “Oh, strychnine.” said the grand-father in a laughing tone and continued, “That's poison.” “Poison?”said the grandson inquisitively. “What do you use poison for grandpa?” “Killing rats” responded the grand-father. “Oh” said the boy as he began to ponder.

“What if we were to add water to the strychnine, grandpa, would it be okay then?” “No,” answered the grand-father, “That is very dangerous poison, and you must never touch or taste it.” The boy sat on a small stool near his grand-father and watched as he replaced a tire on the bicycle. “Grandpa,” the boy began again, “What if we were to have ninety nine percent water and only one percent strychnine? Would it be safe to drink then?” The grand-father stopped his work and began to wonder where his grandson was going with this idea. He responded, “No, son, that poison is not safe for anyone no matter how much we were to dilute it.” Then the grand-father asked, “what makes you so curious about the strychnine?” “Well, grandpa, on the news the other day the man said that there was only just a few people in our country that were like poison, and so I wondered what would happen to the rest of the country if only a little bit of poison is inside?” The grand-father marveled at his grandson's perception and said, “I suppose that is a result that I might never see, but you probably will.” And with that the bicycle was finished, and the grand-father said, “Go ride, son. Go ride.” “Thanks grandpa!” replied the boy happily as he jumped on the bike and took off down the driveway.

“Hmm,” mumbled the grand-father as he watched his grandson ride down the street, “only one percent. Wow is that a perceptive boy,” and the grand-father walked shaking his head as he went inside his house.