The Smart Inmate

A young couple had a flat tire outside the fence of a mental institution. The wife was leery of the inmates wandering inside the compound, but there was a swift creek separating them, and her husband said it was okay. He took off the four lug nuts and set them aside to remove the flat. The lug nuts rolled into the creek and sank to the bottom.

An inmate behind the fence saw what happened and told the young man to take one nut from each of the other tires and put them on the spare. It would be safe enough to get them to a service station a few miles away.

"That's pretty smart for a guy in your place," the husband said.

"I'm not in here because I'm stupid," the inmate said.