In Ireland
there is a mental institution that every year picks two of it's most
reformed patients and questions them. If they get the questions right they
are free to leave. This year the two lucky patients were Patty and Mike.
They were called down to the office and left there by the orderly. They were
told to wait as the doctor got their files. The doctor came out and motioned
for Patty to come in for her questioning.
When Patty came into the office, she was instructed to sit in the seat
across from the doctor. "Patty, you know the tradition of this institution
so I imagine you know why you are here. You will be asked two questions, and
if you get them right, you will be free to go. Do you understand all that
you have been told?" said the doctor with a rather sly grin. Patty nodded,
and the doctor began to question her.
The first question was this: "Patty, if I was to poke out one of your eyes,
what would happen?" "I would be half blind of course," Patty answered
without much thought. "What would happen if I poked out the other eye?" "I
would be completely blind," said Patty knowing that she had just gotten her
freedom. The doctor then sent her outside while he drew up the paperwork and
accessed Mike's files.
When Patty got into the waiting room however, she told Mike what the
questions would be and what the correct answers were. The doctor calls in
Mike and he followed the same procedure that he had with Patty. "Mike, the
first question is what would happen if I cut off your ear?" "I would be
blind in one eye," he said remembering what he had been told.
This received a perplexed look from the doctor but he just simply asks the
other question so that he could figure out what the man was thinking. "Mike,
what would happen if I cut off your other ear?" "I would be completely
blind," he answered with a smile as if he knew he had passed.
But then the doctor asked him what his reasoning was, and he said flatly,
"Me hat would fall down over me eyes."