A ship was out at sea when the call when out that they were on a collision course with another boat. The ship's captain was called on deck. Sighting the lights of the other ship directly in front, he ordered the Signal Officer on Deck to tell the other ship to adjust course 10 degrees east. After a couple of tries the officer received a response, "You turn 10 degrees west."

Angered by the insubordination of the other ship the captain decided to pull rank. He signaled to the other ship "I'm a captain with 35 years experience. Turn your ship 10 degrees east." The captain immediately received a response, "I'm a seaman, forth class. You turn 10 degrees west."

By now the two ships were quickly closing the gap between them and the captain realized that something would have to be done soon if the collision was to be avoided. Again he had his officer send a message. This time he said, "Now listen here, I'm a 40,000 ton tanker. Turn your ship 10 degrees east." The message came back, "I'm a lighthouse. Turn 10 degrees west NOW!"

Note: This story was taken from a radio broadcast on January 8th, 2002.