Just How Smart

How smart is the person sitting next to you?

smart (smärt)
adj.
smart·er, smart·est

1.Characterized by sharp quick thought; bright. See Synonyms at intelligent.

in·tel·li·gent
adj.
1. Having intelligence.

in·tel·li·gence
1: The ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations


I am reminded of a time I was sitting next to a man at a bus stop and I introduced myself telling him my name was Wag. He in turn introduced himself as Albert.

I couldn't help but notice his shoes were untied so I said to him, "Al, did you know your shoes are untied and you should tie them so you don't trip and hurt yourself?"

Al turned to me with a sheepish look on his face and said, "I don't know how to tie my shoes."

As I sat there at that bus stop I wondered to myself, how smart is the person sitting next to me?

I immediately knelt down and tied Al's shoes for him.

Al thanked me, said I was smart and asked me since I was so smart if I could help him with another problem he was having.

Of course I was flattered and answered, "Sure, what is the question?"

He told me he was working on a small project on the theory of relativity and specifically mass–energy equivalence, E = mc2. He asked what my theory was.

At that moment the bus he was taking was pulling up to a stop so thank goodness I didn't have to get into that long conversation.


He shook my hand as he boarded the bus and said, "The last name is Einstein."

In Albert's case I'm sure the question was, "How stupid is the person sitting next to me?"

Stupid is an adjective meaning "lacking in intelligence."

A wise man once looked at the person he was sitting next to and saw a professor that seemed slow and awkward.

The wise man, rather than questioning how smart is the professor sitting next to me, instead invented the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover."

As it turned out the professor was one of the brightest minds in his field.

Just remember the next time you are sitting next to someone , don't judge a book by it's cover and never underestimate how smart they might be.