I work at the local mall. The other day a customer returned to our mobile phone kiosk with a cellular phone she had recently purchased.

She complained that “the phone worked fine for the first two days and then suddenly went dead.”

I asked her how long she had charged the battery for.

She replied, “What do you mean, ‘charge the battery’?”

Upon further interrogation it became clear that she thought the one-year warranty on the battery meant it would last that long.

As an instructor in driver education, I’ve learned that even the brightest students can become flustered behind the wheel.

One day I had three beginners in the car, each scheduled to drive for 30 minutes.

When the first student had completed his time, I asked him to change places with one of the others.

Gripping the wheel tightly and staring straight ahead, he asked in a shaky voice, “Should I stop the car first?”