This really isn’t a CIDU, of course, but it’s a callback to the old joke, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” “Practice!”
Long, long ago–probably 1990 or earlier–I was at a gas station in Stewart, NY, filling a rental car before returning it. A civilian Jeep with two young, buff dudes pulled up and the one guy yelled, “Hey, buddy, do you know how to get to West Point?”
I briefly considered telling him, “Join the Army!” but then realized that there were decent odds that that would result in someone finding my body behind the building, so just told him “I’m afraid not, I’m not a local.”
Would have been funny, though!
Comics I Don't Understand 
It would have been a funny line, but I feel compelled to note that you don’t get into West Point by joining the Army. It can help you get nominated but only a small (single-digit) percentage of admissions are already soldiers.
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Sure, but practicing doesn’t guarantee that you get to play at Carnegie Hall either, eh?
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Odds? What are the odds Beetle wouldn’t have offered to get in & guide the guy?
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Napoleon, how did you find Austria?
I turned left at Switzerland.
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Phsii, I’m not ever sure how to address that sort of thought process which I can only describe as “bending logic a little for the sake of contrarianism.”
Joining the Army is not a necessary or important step in getting admitted to West Point, but practice is necessary and important if you want to play at Carnegie Hall. You practice before playing at Carnegie, you join the Army after graduating West Point.
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Andrew, oh! I thought West Point was where you went to become an officer, i.e., after you’d already joined the Army. Guess it’s even better that I suppressed my smartass answer!
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billytheskink:
Waiter: And how did you find your steak?
Diner: I just looked under my baked potato!
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You can rent Carnegie Hall yourself and put on your own concert. But it might not be a good concert if you haven’t practiced.
I note however that on a typical night, most of the people who show up at Carnegie Hall are there to see and hear a concert, not perform it themselves.
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A more accurate, albeit oversimplified, answer to “How do you get to West Point?” would be “You need to get a nomination for admission from your Senator or Representative in Congress.”
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Which would DEFINITELY have gotten me beaten!
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But it would have been worth it!
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Combine the two:
How do you get to West Point?
Practise.
Does that work? :-)
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