There once was a woman who wanted to find the perfect man…then she saw a tall building with a sign that said, “Men Inside.”

She thought this would be a good place to start her search.

When she went in the building there was a man standing by the elevator. She asked about the sign…”Men Inside.”

The man responded that, yes, this building was full of men. He told her that there were five more stories (levels) in the building, and that each story had men on it.

He told her that she could select any man in the building, or no man at all, whatever she liked. He also told her that she could start on lowest floor, look around, meet the men, and decided if she wanted to select one of them.

He said that if she did not select a man on the first floor, that she was welcome to go to the next floor above and look around. But she could not return to the lower floors once she had visited them.

The woman was delighted at such an auspicious encounter. She went to the first level. As the elevator opened she saw a sign that said, “The men on this floor have jobs.” She looked around, and thought, “well, that’s better than my last boyfriend, but I think I’ll see what’s on the next floor.”

So she got on the elevator and went to the second floor. The sign on this floor said, “These men have jobs, and they know how to cook.” She thought that was very nice, and as she looked around she saw men working and making wonderful meals. She liked what she saw, but then she thought, “hmmm…this is getting better…I’ll see what’s on the next floor.”

So she went to the third floor. Here she read a sign that said, “These men have jobs, they like to cook, they are handsome, and they love children.” Again, she liked what she saw, but still wondered what could be above. So she got back on the elevator.

On the fourth floor she read a sign that said, “These men have jobs, they like to cook, they are handsome, they love children, they can sing like Barry Manalow, they do their own laundry, they put the toilet seat down, they love to give roses and write poetry, they shower every day (sometimes twice), and they make a lot of money.”

The woman was beside herself. As she looked around, she saw handsome men, working, shopping for gifts, singing beautifully, doing laundry, cooking gourmet meals, and reading stories to children. She loooked very closely at each of the men. She had nearly picked one tall, dark, handsome, well dressed man from the crowd, when she had a thought – “if the men are like this here, I wonder what they are like on the next floor.”

So, she got on the elevator, and went to the fifth floor. Here was another sign. This one said, “This is the highest floor in the building. There are no men on this floor. There used to be a few men here, but now they are gone. This room is now here only to prove that no matter how closely a man nears perfection, he will never be perfect enough for most women. Thanks for your visit today. Please use the stairs as you exit the building.”

The End.

Now, the trick is to recognize the fourth-floor men, since the fifth-floor men are obviously all gone. Good luck.

By the way…a long time ago, I used to be on the fifth floor, but I was adamantly opposed to singing like Barry Manalow, and that man in the entryway of the building made me go back to the fourth floor.