A wino walked into a bar one day, and started begging for drinks. One of the patrons tells him he'll buy the old sot a drink, but first he has to take a drink from the spittoon over in the corner.
   The wino is in a bad way, so he takes the guy up on his offer, goes over and picks up the spittoon, raises it to his lips, and starts chugging away.
   The guy at the bar, who didn't really believe the wino would take him up on his offer, is horrified. "Stop! Stop!" he yells, "I'll buy you a drink now!"
   But the wino keeps on drinking from the spittoon.
   Again the guy at the bar calls out, "Stop! Put the spittoon down! I'll buy you the damn drink!"
   But the wino keeps on drinking. Finally, after about five minutes he stops, and puts the spittoon down.
   So they guy at the bar says, "Hey, didn't you hear me telling you to stop? Why didn't you stop?"
   "I couldn't," the wino replies, "it was all one string."