More power of retorts

Keeping to the topic of retorts. Let us see more examples. 

A doctor had a mechanic visiting him. Doctor Says “get under the table I will examine you”. He was meaning as Mechanics have to get under the car to examine the cars, he (doctor) would do the same. The mechanic was made of sterner stuff. He smiled and said “Nice one, doctor. But is it nor easy to treat the same model from the time of Adam and Eve. We have to treat different models every year”.

The doctor neatly turned the tables on the Mechanic saying “That’s right but can you examine the car with the engine running? I am sure you can’t do that”. This effectively shut the mechanic up.

This one is attributed to Albert Einstein. I am not sure if it is true. But it is a great story. Albert Einstein was on a tour of England. He was delivering lectures on his theory of relativity. Einstein had the same car and cab driver who took him to various venues.

One day the cab driver said “sir, your lectures are becoming very monotonous. You always start by saying, ladies and gentleman I am Albert Einstein. I want to tell you about my new theory on relativity. You are becoming very predictable. I know your speech by heart. I can play your role very easily”. Einstein said “I agree. It is getting very monotonous. I got an idea. The next place where I am lecturing is a place where no one recognizes me. Why don’t we exchange places? You can play the role of Einstein and I will play the role of the cabbie”.  The cabbie agreed and they exchanged their dresses.

It was the venue of the lecture; Einstein stood at the door of the hall and admiringly watched the cabbie hold the floor very eloquently. The cabbie was in the flow and was lecturing the same way as Einstein. No one in the crowd had an iota of doubt about the identity of the speaker. Such was the power of the acting of the cabbie.

At the end of a lecture an elderly man stood up and said “Mr. Einstein, I should say an excellent lecture. I am wrestling with a complex mathematical problem for the last six months. Will you have a look at it? I am sure you can come out with the answer in a couple of weeks”.

Einstein now was really alarmed. “The show is up” he said to himself. But the cabbie was super smart. He picked up the paper that was given to him and gave it a cursory glance.  “Such a simple problem, my cab driver can solve it” saying this he gestured Einstein to come over. With a flourish he handed over the paper containing the problem to Einstein.

Einstein promptly solved the problem and gave it to the mathematician. The mathematician did not know what hit him. A problem that puzzled him for six months has been solved by Einstein’s driver!