Mud sticks

The sight of the Spanish King and Queen being pelted with mud on their visit to Valencia in the wake of the floods there was shocking. Peasants are supposed to keep the mud to themselves. But the episode has reminded me of a long forgotten, mild republican joke. At a remote Spanish garage a car rolls up, conking and wheezing and the driver tells the garage owner the car is about out of petrol. Trouble is the driver has no money so the garage owner says ‘What else can you pay with?’ The driver says well, I’m Maria Callas and I’ll sing you an aria. The garage owner falls to his knees and exclaims ‘I’ll fill your tank!’ The next day another similarly distressed driver pulls up at the garage. The garage owner says ‘What can you do for me?’ Out steps Salvador Dali who says ‘Have this picture. It’s worth a million dollars.’ The garage owner falls to his knees in gratitude and fills Dali’s tank. The next day, yet another car pulls up, about to expire. The garage owner, full of anticipation asks the driver ‘What can you do for me?’ The driver steps out and says ’I am the King, I can do nothing!’  The garage owner fails to fall to his knees.