I am flashing back on when I started working construction as a "gopher" (that's go-for to the uninitiated - as in someone who fetches). I was just returning to where a crew was digging footings when one of them yelled at me, "Quick, run to the supply trailer and get a sledge hammer! We've got a man with his hand caught!"

Soon I was running back up the muddy hillside as fast as I could with a ten pound hammer in my hand. I was almost halfway up the hill when the idea came to me that a ten pound sledge hammer would probably be of little use in getting anyone out of a ditch. Then I saw the smirks on the faces of a couple of the guys. I knew I'd been had.

Not quite as silly as being asked to fetch a bucket of steam or a styrofoam cup full of gasoline.