Anecdota

"Everybody is settling down for the last algebra test of the semester before the final when the woman in front of me turns around and asks why she missed a problem on the previous test: -x^2 (x=2) => -4 She had answered a positive 4, and I told her it was an order of operations issue. I reminded her of the 'Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally' stuff. I even showed her the expanded version of the problem: -1 * x^2. She completely freaked out, and nobody around her could calm her down. Anyway, the test is handed out, and I notice that she is not working on it. A few minutes later, she reached into her backpack and pulled out a textbook for another class. 10 minutes later, she walked out of the class, and did not return for the remainder of the semester, nor was she there for the final." Source: http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=171819&cid=14319188

"Oh, don't. I had a boss once who couldn't grasp that I'd bought 100 of something rather than the 96 he told me to buy because the price break at 100 meant the total bill for the order was less than buying 96 of 'em. This was in the eighties and they were Burr Brown DAC-80 D>convertors which at the time were about £80 each. He insisted I send the extra four back - which I pretended to do. Two days later he was screaming 'cos he'd blown one up and needed another in a hurry (which at 1-off prices was getting on for £100, plus P+P). The look on his face when I handed him one of the spares was worth all the hassle of working there. " Source: http://groups.google.com/group/uk.d-i-y/msg/ee9d603bf1d3e2fe?dmode=sourcesource

"With enough of a flourish to guarantee the class's attention, he went to the front of the room, near one edge of the board. Then, clearing his throat, he drew a coathook right near one of the protruding nails. He proceeded to hang his coat and hat on the hook that he had drawn in chalk (really on the nail, of course). Then he went on to give that day's lecture. He told us that the entire class had their eyes to the front of the room throughout the lecture. He didn't know if they'd heard a single word he'd said, but at least they looked attentive." Read the rest of this anecdote...