While walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies.
His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.
"Welcome
to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a
problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so
we"re not sure what to do with you."
"No problem, just let me in," says the man.
"Well,
I"d like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we"ll do is have
you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where
to spend eternity."
"Really, I"ve made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the senator.
"I"m sorry, but we have our rules."
And
with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down,
down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle
of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse. Standing in
front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked
with him.
Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run
to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they
had while getting rich at the expense of the people.
They play a friendly game of golf; and then dine on lobster, caviar, and champagne.
Also
present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good
time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that
before he realizes it, it is time to go.
Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises...
The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him.
"Now it"s time to visit heaven."
So,
24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls
moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a
good time.
Before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.
"Well, then, you"ve spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity."
The
senator reflects for a minute, and then he answers: "Well, I would
never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I
think I would be better off in hell."
So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.
Now the doors of the elevator open and he"s in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.
He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.
The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder.
"I
don"t understand," stammers the senator. "Yesterday I was here and
there was a golf course and clubhouse. We ate lobster and caviar, drank
champagne, danced and had a great time. Now there"s just a wasteland
full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?"
The devil looks at him, smiles and says, "Yesterday we were campaigning…Today you voted."
