Where to make an effort, makes all the difference

A giant ship engine failed.

The ship's owners tried one expert after another but none of them could figure how to fix the engine.

Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was young.

He carried a large bag of tools with him when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ships' owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do.

After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something.

Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away, the engine was FIXED.

A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for 10,000 dollars.

"What?" the owners exclaimed. 'He hardly did anything!'

So they wrote a note to the old man saying, 'Please send us the itemized billing'.

The old man send a bill that read,

Tapping with hammer ..................................... $ 2.00
Knowing where to tap.................................... $ 9,998.00

Moral

Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort makes all the difference.