There's a similar story. A man sees a local parks crew truck at the park, and watches as two workers slowly progress down the park. The first one digs a hole, and then moves on. The second then fills the hole in and follows the first.
After watching this for a while, his curiosity is killing him. He stops the workers and asks, "Why are you digging and filling in holes like this?"
The workers reply, "The guy who puts the tree in the hole is sick today."