MENSA and the waitress

[LONDONER]

Some years ago, there was a Mensa convention in San Francisco. Mensa, as you know, is a national organization for people who have an IQ of 140 or higher.

Several of the Mensa members went out for lunch at a local cafe. When they sat down, one of them discovered that their salt shaker contained pepper, and their pepper shaker was full of salt. How could they swap the contents of the two bottles without spilling any, and using only the implements at hand? Clearly -- this was a job for Mensa minds.
The group debated the problem and presented ideas and finally, came up with a brilliant solution involving a napkin, a straw, and an empty saucer.

They called the waitress over, ready to dazzle her with their solution.

"Ma'am," they said, "we couldn't help but notice that the pepper shaker contains salt and the salt shaker -- "

But before they could finish, .......... the waitress interrupted. "Oh -- sorry about that." She leaned over the table, unscrewed the caps of both bottles and switched them.

There was dead silence at the Mensa table.

[East]

LOVE that joke....long story......but I will do the short recap...

When I was in college...I waited tables within walking distance of APPLE Headquarters...and HP was close by on the other side...and alot of other companies with execs had breakfast and lunch regularly and though they were all OK on some level...for as smart as they were...they were collectively sorely lacking in common sense. There were alot of embarrassing/uncomfortable moments....

[Rareboy]

Some years ago, there was a Mensa convention in San Francisco. Mensa, as you know, is a national organization for people who have an IQ of 140 or higher.

Several of the Mensa members went out for lunch at a local cafe. When they sat down, one of them discovered that their salt shaker contained pepper, and their pepper shaker was full of salt. How could they swap the contents of the two bottles without spilling any, and using only the implements at hand? Clearly -- this was a job for Mensa minds.
The group debated the problem and presented ideas and finally, came up with a brilliant solution involving a napkin, a straw, and an empty saucer.

They called the waitress over, ready to dazzle her with their solution.

"Ma'am," they said, "we couldn't help but notice that the pepper shaker contains salt and the salt shaker -- "

But before they could finish, .......... the waitress interrupted. "Oh -- sorry about that." She leaned over the table, unscrewed the caps of both bottles and switched them.

There was dead silence at the Mensa table.

I have to admit though....without the information that they were screw top shakers, my own initial assumption would have been that this simple solution was not available to them. I immediately envisioned a bottom fill shaker like we use at home.

My other immediate reaction was 'Why would it matter?' As soon as you could see which was which why would anyone pay attention to the label on the container?

[LONDONER]

Not boasting but when I first saw this and while I was reading it, it immediately passed through my mind that changing the caps over would be the simplest solution.