I went out for lunch with a friend the other day and he told me a story about how they had a session at his workplace to teach people how to communicate effectively. About 10 minutes into the talk, the presenter asked if anyone had the time. Someone said “I think it’s 2:10;” someone else shouted out “It’s 2:11.”
“No,” The presenter said. “The correct answer is ‘yes’.”
I told that story to another buddy and he reminded me of the scene in The Wire when a captain asks a rookie patrolman where he is.
The rookie replies something to the effect of “I’m at Johnson and Mclean” and the captain counters sternly with “No you’re not: you’re on East side of the 100 block of Johnson facing North.”
Both reminders that the correct answer to any question really depends on who is asking it…