An old gentleman walked into a company looking for work. The supervisor looked him over and said, “We require all new hires to pass a basic math test. Think you’re up for it?”

“Absolutely,” the elderly man replied.

“Okay,” the foreman said, “First question: Without using actual numbers, show me the number nine.”

“No numbers at all?” the man asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That’s right.”

With a confident smile, the old man grabbed a pencil and sketched three simple trees on a sheet of paper.

The supervisor glanced at it, puzzled. “What’s this supposed to be?”

“Simple,” the old man said. “Tree plus tree plus tree. That gives you tree-tree-tree… get it? Nine!”

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The foreman chuckled. “Clever. Okay, next challenge. Again, no numbers. Now show me ninety-nine.”

The man paused for a few seconds, then took the drawing and put a smudge on each tree.

“There,” he said, handing it back.

The supervisor raised an eyebrow. “What am I looking at now?”

“Well,” the man explained, “each tree is now dirty. So that’s a dirty tree plus dirty tree plus dirty tree. Dirty tree, dirty tree, dirty tree—ninety-nine!”

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Laughing, the foreman said, “Alright, last one. Let’s see if you can do one hundred.”

The old man nodded thoughtfully. He picked up the paper again and carefully made a small mark at the bottom of each tree.

The foreman stared at the drawing and shook his head. “I’m not seeing it. How does this mean a hundred?”

Leaning in, the old man pointed at the new marks and whispered, “Those are little piles from a pup. A dog did his business by each tree. So now it’s dirty tree and a turd… plus dirty tree and a turd… plus dirty tree and a turd. That, my friend, makes one hundred.”

The foreman burst out laughing—and hired him on the spot.