welcome my dudes

A truck driver is heading west across the Arizona desert. Hehas been driving all night, and as the sun starts to rise,he feels the need to stop and commune with nature. He pullsto the side of the road, parks, and walks out into the sagebrush.As he is standing there, looking around at the beauty of theearly morn, he notices a lever sticking out of the ground.After a few moments, he walks over, walks all the wayaround, and then reaches out to grasp the lever. Just as hedoes, he hears a voice say, "Don't touch that lever."The driver jumps about two feet off the ground, and as hecomes down, he looks around. No one is to be seen. Thinkingit was just his imagination, he again reaches for the lever.Again the voice yells, "I said don't touch that lever!"Being more prepared, the driver senses the location of thevoice and looks down under a sage brush. There he sees asmall snake.The driver, in much astonishment, said, "Was that you thatjust spoke?"The snake said, "Yes. I have to keep people from touchingthat lever. If the lever is moved, it will be the end of theworld."The driver, still rather astonished, said, "What is yourname? And will you talk on TV?" The snake said his name wasNate and that he wasn't interested in going on TV; anyway,he had to stay and watch the lever to see that it wasn'tmoved. The driver said, "Look, I will get the networks tosend out camera crews. That way, you can inform the entireworld about the danger of the lever."Nate thought that over and allowed as how there was a greatdeal of sense to the idea. The driver, true to his word, gotthe network camera crews out. They put on broadcasts inwhich Nate warned the entire world of the dangers of movingthe lever.A few weeks later, another truck driver was going throughthe area. He was following an oil tanker, and the tankersprang a leak. When the driver's truck hit the slick, itwent out of control, and he found himself headed straightfor the lever. He remembered seeing Nate on the TV tellingabout the lever and so he knew that if he hit it, he wouldcause the world to end. He strove, with all his might tomaneuver the truck. Finally, at the last moment, he was ableto swerve, but he ran over Nate, the snake, and killed himflat!The truck driver was heard to say "Well, better Nate than lever."