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A little town had a high birth rate that had attracted the attention of the sociologists at the state university.
They wrote a grant proposal; got a huge chunk of money; hired a few additional sociologists, an anthropologist, and a family planning and birth control specialist; moved to town; rented offices; set up their computers; got squared away; and began designing their questionnaires and such.
While the staff was busy getting ready for their big research effort, the project director decided to go to the local drugstore for a cup of coffee. He sat down at the counter, ordered his coffee, and while he was drinking it, he told the druggist what his purpose was in town, then asked him if he had any idea why the birth rate was so high.
“Sure,” said the druggist. “Every morning the train comes through at 5:30, blows its horn for the crossing and wakes everybody up. It seems that 5:30 is too late to go back to sleep, and it’s too early to get up.”
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