A teacher assigned homework to his students. It was to pick up trash for thirty minutes in front of each house on a holiday morning. It was to let the students get up early because they might oversleep with the excuse that it was a holiday. After class, a student came to teachers’ room and asked the teacher.
“Sir, if it rains, I don’t need to pick up trash, do I?”
“No. It will be hard to do that if it rains.”
Soon after the student left, another student came in and asked.
“Sir, even if it rains, I should pick up trash in front of my house, right?”
“Can you do that in the rain?”
“If I ask my parents for help, they will hold an umbrella for me.”
“Oh, sounds good.”
When the student left, the trainee teacher who had been watching them asked the teacher why his answers were different to each student. Then, the teacher replied,
“The student who came first didn’t want to pick up trash if it rains, but the student after him was willing to do despite the rain. As they came to hear what they wanted to hear, I answered as they wanted.”