It had been a slow day at the pearly gates, and St. Peter was on the verge of nodding off, when suddenly a man appeared. He was rumpled and bedraggled and not very steady on his feet. St. Peter looked him over skeptically.
“Have you ever done anything of particular merit?” he asked.
The man thought it over.
“Well, I can think of one thing,” he said. “I saw a bunch of punks who were harassing a young woman. I told them to leave her alone, but they wouldn’t listen to me. So I went up to the biggest one of them and busted him in the chops and yelled, ‘Now, back off!’”
“Impressive,” said St. Peter. “When did this happen?”
The man looked at his watch and said, “About five minutes ago.”
Posted by bluebird of bitterness 
