The Berlin Wall Guard A guard stood in the East crossing of the Berlin Wall when he is approached by a man on a bicycle, carrying a suitcase. ""Before I let you cross, I need to check what's inside your suitcase,"" the guard says, and takes the suitcase. He puts on his gloves, and opens the case for examination only to find that the case is filled with sand. He sifts through the sand but cannot find anything else, so he closes the suitcase, hands it back and lets the man through. A couple of weeks later, the man comes back to the crossing guard, again with nothing but the bicycle he was travelling on and his suitcase. The guard, once again, takes the suitcase and sifts through the sand. It's a different type of sand this time, but no matter how hard he tries he cannot figure out what the deal with the sand is, so he lets the man through. For weeks this happens, always the same man and always a different kind of sand. The guard is perplexed, but he cannot figure it out and there is no reason to not let the man cross the border, so he ignores it. Eventually, the wall is torn down, and the guard has to find a new job. Years later, he is having a drink in his favourite bar when he spots a familiar face. ""You!"" The ex-guard says, ""come here. I need you to tell me something."" The man, a bit confused, does what he is told and asks, ""is there a problem, sir?"" ""You used to come to my station every few weeks to cross the Berlin Wall. You always had your suitcase full of different sands and I knew there was something wrong, but I've been thinking about it for years and I cannot figure out what you were doing. Please tell me, what was the deal with the sand?"" ""Oh, that."" Says the man. ""Well, you see, I definitely wasn't smuggling sand across the border. I promise you that much."" ""Then what were you doing?"" Begs the guard. ""Smuggling bicycles,"" the man replies.