An Irishman is out of work and decides to go

An Irishman is out of work and decides to go to a construction site and apply.

The foreman is an older English fellow who doesn’t care for Irishmen, thinks they’re drunks and dumb and unreliable.

But he knows he can’t just come out and say that.

So, the foreman says, “Now, see here chap!
This operation is not in the habit of hiring just any old sod who applies, you have to show me you have some builder experience and knowledge.
I’ll hire you if you can answer some questions.”

The Irishman says, “Deadly! I been a builder for donkey’s years, Holy joe.
let’s have it, then, i’ll show you i’m not a dosser!”

The foreman thinks to himself, “Righto, this geezer’s a lota wind. let’s send him packing”.
So he asks:

“Alright, what’s the difference between a Girder and a Joist?”

The irishman thinks for a few seconds and grumbles a bit.
He pauses long enough for the Englishman to get a bit of a smirk on his face (as English are wont to do).
Finally, he takes a breath, taste it in his gut, and stands a little straighter to answer:

“One wrote Faust, the other wrote Finnegan’s Wake