Leonard Q. Ross wrote a series of short stories about Hyman Kaplan. Kaplan was a mid-thirty-year-old Eastern European, an emigrant to New York after the Second World War. During the day, Kaplan worked in a garment factory. In the evening, he attended night school to improve his English.
Instead of improving his English, Kaplan demolished every part of the English language in the process of “learning” it. Introduced to Shakespeare, Kaplan recalled his favourite character: Julius Scissor.
One night, Kaplan wrote a sentence on the board. It had a mistake in every word and syntax. Every other person in his class, including the shyest student, promptly raised a hand in glee to correct Kaplan’s work.
Was he abashed?
No.
A huge smile erupted on Kaplan’s face as he congratulated himself, marvelling at the magnificent puzzle he had presented his classmates to solve.
Life’s all a matter of attitude.
