A soccer coach walked into the locker room before a game,
looked at his star player and said: “I’m not supposed to let you play since you failed math, but we need you in there. So, what I have to do is ask you a math question, and if you get it right, you can play.”
The player agreed, and the coach looked into his eyes intently and asks: “Okay, now concentrate hard and tell me the answer to this. What is two plus two?”
The player thought for a moment and then he answered: “I think… no… yes… I’m not sure… what about 4?”
“Did you say 4?” the coach exclaimed, excited that he got it right.
At that, all the other players on the team began screaming: “Come on coach, give him another chance!”
Tommy was sitting in math class when suddenly his teacher asked him
“Tommy, How much is 2 + 2?”
Tommy, caught off guard, begins counting his fingers under the table mumbling to himself: “1…2…3…4,” before happily exclaiming “The answer is four!”
“That’s correct,” answered his teacher, “but I saw you counting your fingers instead of doing the math in your head. So I want you to put your hands behind your back and tell me what do you get if you add 3 + 3?”
Tommy put his hands behind his back, but his teacher saw that he was still moving uncomfortably as if he were trying to count fingers. After a few moments he said uncertainly, “is the answer six?”
“You are correct,” she replied, “but I see you’re still counting fingers despite me asking you not to! Put your hands in your pant pockets and tell me what you get if you add 5 + 5.”
Tommy put his hands in his pants and his teacher saw him looking at his pants and moving his lips without uttering a word.
Finally the teacher became impatient and said: “I see what you’re doing there and I can tell you right now that the answer is not eleven!“
