Friday, January 20, 2006

In Addition...

I was given an Algebra problem yesterday by a coworker. "Solve for x," she said, "I tried and couldn't get it to work out." Wanting to help her out and, because I was bored and this problem sounded more intellectually stimulating than what I was doing (perfecting the art of code: writing backwards), I obliged.

Five minutes later and some double-checking, I emerged victorious. I showed it to her and was rewarded with a look of puzzlement. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"How did you get 17?" she cocked her head.

I was befuddled!  I knew I was right! It was a simple Algebra problem! Solve for x! Not that hard! I heaved a big sigh and began to point out the obvious to her.

"See - right here - you add 12x to 15x to get 17x. Because obviously in my world 12 plus 15 clearly adds up to 17, NOT 27." I added. I was amazed at my obliviousness. I checked the darn thing three times!!! Oh well.

The answer still came out right.

So, in my world - even if things don't add up - it'll still make sense to me!

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