The Unexpected Answer

When someone gives you an unexpected answer, do you assume he is wrong?

A teacher was teaching first grade math.  She asked her student Lee, “If I give you one apple and one apple and another apple, how many apples will you have?”

Within a few seconds, Lee confidently replied, “Four!”

Dismayed, Lee’s teacher had been expecting him to answer with three.  Disappointed, she thought that maybe Lee did not listen to her question.

So she repeated her question.  “Lee, listen carefully”, she began. “If I give you one apple and one apple and another apple, how many apples will you have?”

Noticing the disappointment on his teacher’s face, Lee calculated again. He was searching for the answer that would make his teacher happy. Again, having recalculated, he answered “Four!”

Lee noticed that his teacher still looked disappointed in his answer.  Then his teacher remembered his love of grapes. “Maybe he doesn’t like apples and that is making him lose focus,” she thought.

This time with a twinkling in her eyes, she asked Lee once again, “If I give you one grape and one grape and another grape, how many grapes will you have?”

Seeing his teacher happy, Lee calculated on his fingers again. Lee’s teacher was happy because she had found a new approach and was hopeful it might succeed.

This time, with no hesitation, Lee gave the correct answer, “Three!”

Now Lee’s teacher smiled victoriously.  Her approach was successful and she wanted to congratulate herself. But before she could congratulate herself, she had to ask Lee one more question.  “Now if I give you one apple and one apple and another apple, how many apples will you have?” she asked him. And he promptly answered four again.

Frustrated, the teacher said in a stern voice, “How, Lee, how?”

Lee replied with hesitation, “Because I already have one apple in my bag.”

The moral of the story is simple.  When someone gives you an answer you do not expect, he is not necessarily wrong. You just probably have not calculated every possible angle!

 

Let the encouraging words in these near a river posts help you

soar like an eagle above life’s storms.

 

Please travel safely!

Do you have this bad habit?

Try to always remember this…

What does your happiness depend on?

 

If you enjoyed this post, remember that BJ writes children’s books.

Her encouraging children’s eagle

near a river common core reading book

is available on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com.

Buy BJ’s near a river encouraging eagle reading book

for a child you care about today!