Answer to November 19, 2001 Problem
From Click and Clack, The Car Guys

The Fishing Pole Problem

A young boy is standing at the bus stop, waiting for the bus. He's standing there with a new five foot fishing rod he just bought.

The bus stops and the boy attempts to enter the bus.
The bus driver stops him as he puts his foot in the door, and the driver says, "You can't get on." The boy asks, "But, why not?" The driver says there's a city ordinance that prohibits anyone from carrying packages longer than four feet on the bus.

The boy says, "But, how am I going to get home?" The bus driver says, "That's your problem. That fishing rod is about five feet long, so I'm booting you out."

The driver kicks the boy off the bus. The boy stands there bewildered. He says to himself, "I'll have to go back to the store and return it." The boy goes back to the store, and the owner says, "No returns after 15 minutes!"

So he's stuck with the fishing rod and no way to get home. He can't take a cab. He's got to take the bus, and the fishing rod is five feet long. He walks back to the store again, realizing he can't return it. Five minutes later he's on the bus with the fishing rod -- and without altering it, breaking it, sawing it in half, or collapsing it.

What did he do? (yes, this problem actually involves some MATH!!!)