Franklin Roosevelt was once President of the United States. During his Presidency he’d have to attend all sorts of receptions at the White House. During the reception people would line up to meet him and shake his hand. He was fairly convinced that people didn’t really pay any attention to what he said to them. So one day he decided to conduct a little experiment. As he shook the hand of each person President Roosevelt said "How do you do? I murdered my grandmother this morning." True to form people didn’t pay much attention. When the president told them he murdered his grandmother they responded with comments like "How lovely!" or "It’s a great job you’re doing. Keep up the good work." Nobody listened, except for one foreign diplomat. Careful not to offend the President of the USA his response was "Yes Mr President. And I’m sure she had it coming to her."
Applications: attentiveness, listening, communication, humor, humour