An Elderly Man Wants A Job

An elderly job seeker faced an unusual condition: pass the foreman’s maths test before getting hired. First, he had to represent nine without writing any numbers. He drew three trees. When the foreman questioned the picture, the man confidently explained, “Tree plus tree plus tree makes nine.” The foreman accepted the wordplay and asked for ninety-nine. After a moment’s thought, the applicant smudged each drawing. “Dirty tree, plus dirty tree, plus dirty tree,” he announced.

The final challenge was one hundred, still without numbers. The man added a small mark beneath every tree and handed back the paper. The foreman stared, unconvinced. Leaning closer, the applicant explained that a dog had come along and pooped beside each trunk. “Now you’ve got dirty tree and a turd, plus dirty tree and a turd, plus dirty tree and a turd.” Three lots of thirty-three and a third: one hundred. The arithmetic was sound—even if the explanation stank.