I heard this on a Scientific American podcast I was listening to on the way in to work this morning. Hysterical! And *soooo* true; I’ve often wondered about the budgets of these CSI teams, and have often commented about scenario 2. Enjoy!

CSI agent 1: “I’ve got some trace evidence for you to analyse. Run Sample A through the Mass Spec.”

CSI agent 2: “We don’t have a Mass Spec”.

CSI agent 1: “OK, run Sample B through the gas chromatograph”.

CSI agent 2: “Um, we don’t have one of those, either”.

CSI agen 1: “Well, let’s do a DNA analysis of Sample C”.

CSI agent 2: “OK, we can do that. I’ll send off the sample; we should have the results back in about a month”.

CSI agent 1: “Well, can we run these fingerprints through a database to look for a match?”

CSI agent 2: “Sure, but we only have access to the state db; our system doesn’t really connect well with other states’ or the national registry…”

*sigh*

CSI agent 1: (2pm) “I’m entering the house now…” *click*, *click*, *click*. “Damn, my flashlight has dead batteries”.

CSI agent 2: “Um, why don’t you just, um, flick on this here light switch?”