A man and his dog were walking along a road, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and the dog walking with him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading.
Soon he was standing before a magnificent gate in a tall archway with a street of gold leading to the pearly gate. He and the dog walked towards the gate and saw a man at a desk.
He asked, “where are we?“
“This is heaven, sir” the man answered.
“Wow! Would you happen to have some water?” the man asked.
“Of coarse, sir. Come right in, and I’ll have some ice water brought right up.”
“Can my friend,” gesturing towards his dog, “come in too?” the traveler asked.
“I’m sorry sir, but we don’t accept pets.”
The man thought a moment and then turned back towards the road and continued on the way he had been going with his dog. After a long walk along a dirt road, he came to a farm with a gate that looked as if it had never been closed. As he approached the gate, he saw a man, leaning against a tree and reading a book.
“Excuse me!” he called to the man. “Do you have any water?“
“Yeah, sure, there’s a pump over yonder.” “Come on in.“
“How about my dog?“
“There’s a bowl by the pump,” the man said.
They went through the gate and sure enough there was an old fashioned pump with a bowl beside it.
After quenching their thirst, the man and dog walked back towards the man by the tree and asked, “What do you call this place?“
“This is Heaven” was the answer.
“Well that’s confusing” the traveler said. “The man down the road said that was Heaven too.“
“Oh you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That’s Hell.“
“Doesn’t it make you mad for them to use your name like that?“
The man answered, “No. I can see how you might think so, but we’re just happy that they screen out the folks who’ll leave their best friends behind.“
