
I've been thinking of sending into Mad magazine an idea for a 
parody, of those books entitled "How Things Work" that
engineers buy their sons, which explain how engines, elevators,
flourescent lights, etc. work.

The parody would be "How Things Really Work."  Under "Canned
Food", on the left page you'd see the description from 
"How Things Work": gleaming stainless steel equipment
pasteurizing the food to precisely the right temperature,
then sealing the can in an oxygen-free environment, etc.

On the right page you'd see "How Things Really Work":
brain-dead workers sending disgusting food to the
gleaming equipment -- rotting vegetables, parts of
animals people don't eat, barrels of sugar and chemicals.

Under "Elevators" you'd see (on the left) computer geniuses
working out algorithms so that X number of people
waiting for Y elevators will get to Z floors in the shortest
time.  On the right, you'd see giggling elevator controllers
behind a one-way mirror in the lobby choosing which people
appear to be in the biggest hurry and making them wait longest.