2252. Study the Atlas © Bruce Goodman 11 October 2021

The teacher, Mrs Freud, didn’t think much of the new boy in her class. His name was Freddie. He was tall, skinny, and would spend most of his free time looking at an atlas. He didn’t go outside to play as did all the other boys in the class. Mrs Freud encouraged Freddie to go outside and get some exercise but he didn’t. He just looked at the atlas. And then Mrs Freud insisted, so he left the atlas open on the Uzbekistan page and went grudgingly outside. Years later Freddie was older and had one question left to answer in a television quiz show in order to win twenty million dollars. “What is the capital of Turkmenistan?” “Tashkent,” said Freddie. “No,” said the compere, “the answer is Ashgabat.” “That is the capital of Uzbekistan, not Turkmenistan,” said Freddie. Freddie was the one with the wires crossed. If he hadn’t been sent outside to play by Mrs Freud he would have won the twenty million. However, he’s not going to make a fuss about it because he’s married to Mrs Freud’s daughter and his six kids adore their grandmother. Contact Author Back to Index Next Story Previous Story