SURPRISE MEAL
‘Darling, I’ve seen so little of you recently that one evening this week I am going to take you out for a meal, but the evening I choose will be a surprise,’ said Andrew on Monday morning. ‘That would be nice,’ said Jenny, who immediately tried to work out which night Andrew would choose.
‘Well, it can’t be Friday,’ she thought, ‘because then by the time we get to Friday morning and we haven’t been out I’ll know it must be that evening, so it won’t be a surprise. But since it can’t be Friday, then that means it can’t be Thursday either, because on Thursday morning I’ll know it’s going to have to be on Thursday evening. But if it can’t be Thursday or Friday then by the same reasoning Wednesday can’t be a surprise either . . . and it can’t be Tuesday . . . or tonight . . . He’s not going to take me out for a surprise meal at all, the lying so and so. How typical!’ Her logic seemed impeccable.
But when she got back to the flat that evening there was a message on the answerphone from Andrew: ‘Jenny, about that meal: how about going to the Tandoori restaurant tonight?’
Jenny was surprised. What had been wrong with her reasoning?