I'll give you a dollar if you solve this story problem.

So today a friend forwarded me one of "those" emails - the ones that are usually prefaced with "Sorry - I don't usually send these, but I thought this one was really nice". Don't worry, I won't forward it on to any of you.

About halfway down the page was this:

Important Lesson - Always remember those who serve

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.
"How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked.
"Fifty cents," replied the waitress.
The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.
"Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired.
By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient.
"Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied.
The little boy again counted his coins.
"I'll have the plain ice cream," he said.
The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly on the bill, were two nickels and five pennies..
You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.


Ok, hold up. Two nickels and five pennies makes fifteen cents right? So how is this kid paying for a thirty-five cent ice cream AND leaving a tip with two nickels and five pennies? Had he already paid and this fifteen cents was the tip? If so, why didn't they mention that? Maybe I'm missing something, and this is one of those story problems that always stumped me like "A train leaves Chicago at 5:00 p.m. and travels at a speed of 55 mph and another train leaves Boston at 2:00 p.m. and travels at a speed of 45 mph. What is the name of the train conductor?"