A Lesson in Numbers
SCHOOLTEACHER: Now class, does anyone know which is a larger number, 3 or 10?
BRISTOL ROVERS: Can you explain what you mean, teacher?
TEACHER: Say for instance, you had to pay a lot of money to play a game, and you did not have much money to begin with. Would you rather play a maximum of 3 games or 10 or more games?
SUNDERLAND (scratching their head): Er....I still don't get it. Wouldn't it cost exactly the same amount of money?
TEACHER (getting a little flustered): No, because you see you either play a small number of games, such as 2 or 3, or a large number of games, such as 10-13. Which one is preferable?
PETERBOROUGH: Well surely it does not matter? If you don't want to pay for 10-13 games, why would you want to pay for 2 or 3?
TEACHER (grinding her teeth a little): Well, perhaps if one of these costs less, and you have very little money, it would be preferable.
PETERBOROUGH: But if you have little money, you should not be allowed to play ANY game.
TEACHER (rolling her eyes): Anyone else? Does anyone else know which would be preferable, between PAYING FOR A MAXIMUM OF THREE GAMES OR PAYING FOR AT LEAST TEN GAMES???????
IPSWICH (blank look)
SUNDERLAND (blank look)
PETERBOROUGH (blank look)
TEACHER (regretting her choices in life): Okay, how about something different? If you divide 60 by 35, and 59 by 34, which is the higher total?
SUNDERLAND: I put it in my calculator, and they round up to 1.71 and 1.74.
TEACHER (relieved but wary): Very good Sunderland! So which total is greater?
SUNDERLAND: 60.
TEACHER: I mean between 1.71 and 1.74
SUNDERLAND: 60 is more than 59, so 60 is higher.
TEACHER (beginning to lose heart again): No, but which is higher out of 1.71 and 1.74?
PETERBOROUGH: 1.74 is higher, but 60 is higher than 1.74, so 60 is still higher.
TEACHER: This is an exercise in division. I just want to know what is higher, 1.71 or 1.74?
OXFORD: 1.74.
TEACHER: Perfect!
OXFORD (under his breath): 60.
TEACHER: What was that?
OXFORD (sulking): Nothing.
Comments
That's just made me chuckle. I do fear yesterday's meeting wasn't much different though!!