There was a historical marker near our West Virginia home commemorating the Civil War Battle of Blue's Gap. One day when an oncoming bus was taking too wide a turn, my wife swerved our van out of the way, accidentally clipped the sign and broke it. Wanting to do the right thing, I called the state police to report the damage. Apparently the war is still not over, because the trooper I spoke to asked, "Who won that battle?" "The Union," I replied. "Well, don't worry about it," he said, and hung up.

　　我在西弗吉尼亚的家的附近有一个历史纪念牌，那是用来纪念美国内战时的布鲁斯峡谷战役。 一天，我妻子开车时，一辆迎面驶来的的公车拐弯拐得特别大，我妻子急忙之中将车开到了路的外边，不小心蹭到了那个纪念牌，牌子碎了。  出于一种责任感，我给州警察局打了电话，报告了损坏情况。  很明显，战争还没有结束，因为与我通话的警官在电话中问我，“谁赢得了战斗？”“盟军”，我回答说。 “呃，那就没事了”，他说，同时挂掉了电话。