First Thought Question

Three men checked into a hotel room for which they paid $30. The next day, the manager glanced at the records and realized that the men had been overcharged. She gave the bellhop $5 to return to the three men. On the way to their room the bellhop decided to keep $2 for himself, and give each of the three men one dollar. The three men had now paid $9 each, or a total of $27. This, plus the $2 the bellhop kept makes a total of $29. What happened to the other dollar?

Answer:

Nothing! It’s one of those strange things about the way it is added. If added sequentially it looks like this: The hotel collected $25, the three men were each given $1 back, and the bellhop kept the other $2. The total now comes to $30.