Brainteaser
I read the following brainteaser in “Weekend” (The Guardian’s Magazine) the other day. Can you work out the answer?
The Police raid a house to arrest a suspected murderer - all they know is that his name is Peter. They burst in on a lorry driver, a mechanic and a fireman playing poker and they arrest the fireman. Why?
The answer, and my thoughts on this, are in yellow below. Select the text with your mouse to read!
The answer is that the fireman is the only man. The other poker players are women, so it has to be him.
I must confess, I couldn’t work it out. I was wondering whether the arrested man had a name badge that said ”Peter”, or whether the other two were dead, and that’s why the Police arrested the remaining person.
And then I read the answer. I felt really shocked and annoyed at myself for assuming that the lorry driver and the mechanic were men.
I, like every other sane, modern individual, of course, believe that men and women should be allowed to do whatever job they want to do, regardless of their gender. Of course I know that women are just as capable as men at being lorry drivers or mechanics. So why was I unable to work out the answer?
I’m trying to convince myself that it’s just that there tend to be more male mechanics and lorry drivers than female ones. But could there be more to it than that? Does my subconscious contain a set of beliefs (probably instilled in me during childhood) about men and women’s roles/ which jobs people should do that I didn’t previously have an insight into? I do hope not.
I would be interested to hear how other people got on …
Mya replied:
SG,
Aren’t they being sexist by referring to the firefighter as a fireman?
Mya x
January 30, 2008 at 8:41 pm. Permalink.
Citronella replied:
If you had had the education of my American boyfriend, you wouldn’t have to wonder about that. Because you would know that, in elementary school, you would have been taught a class called “gender identity”. Which purpose is to teach you what is “feminine” (picking, staying in the cave, tending to it, and raising babies) and what is “masculine” (hunting mammoths, and lighting the fire). So you would know that at some point in your education, you’ve been goddamn *taught* that if you need someone to sew a button to your coat, you turn towards mummy, and if you need someone to repair your bookshelf, you turn towards daddy.
On a lighter note: if this was the US, they could probably be a woman named Peter in there
January 30, 2008 at 11:08 pm. Permalink.
Genevieve replied:
Mya - I do hope you’re being ironic there
January 31, 2008 at 9:08 am. Permalink.
Brennig replied:
I’m sad. I got it straight away. We used to use this one in school :
‘an ambulance is called to a car accident, they find the male driver and small boy unconscious. As the casualties are being loaded in to the ambulance the driver wakes up, looks at the boy and asks “are you alright son?” then falls unconscious again.
At the hospital the two unconscious people are taken to A&E where the on-duty doctor takes one look at the boy and says “That’s my son!”‘
Female doc, natch.
January 31, 2008 at 9:17 am. Permalink.
Uncle Norman replied:
Tsk tsk too much analysing. The fireman is the one with the hose.
Although, having said that, I did get an email recently from a lady fire fighter in the USA with a picture of her in her hose.
Praise the internet.
January 31, 2008 at 2:43 pm. Permalink.
Citronella replied:
Bren - I knew a slightly different version of this one, where the father drives his son to the hospital and the doctor says “I cannot operate, this is my son.”, the doc being the mom.
January 31, 2008 at 7:11 pm. Permalink.
stratfordgirl replied:
UN: very saucy!
Citronella: thanks for the interesting comment - do they still have those kind of classes in the States today?
Mya: yes, probably … although the brainsteaser probably wouldn’t work if they used ‘firefighter’ … or at least it might make people think a bit more — and maybe get the answer quicker! (were you being ironic?!)
Brennig: thanks for your story and well done for getting the answer straightaway!
February 2, 2008 at 12:33 am. Permalink.