Thanks is Better Than Sorry

Dad helped Pete check his math homework. On two earlier occasions this year, Dad gave Pete's homework a quick scan, and then found out later that it was a homework “quiz” that counted a lot. Pete got a low score on those quizzes. So Dad was not going to make that mistake again. He is now treating homework assignment reviews like exams. 

The subject of this assignment was instantaneous rate of change word problems. Pete had to explain to Dad how to do it, so Dad could check the answers. It took Dad about an hour to check 8 problems. He was very impressed with Pete’s work. The problems were very difficult. A sample question would be something like: “you are removing water from a conical tank at 20 gallons per minute. How fast is the water level rising at the instant when the diameter of the tank is 12 feet.” Pete neatly wrote out all of the steps for each answer. Dad was pleased that he did find one mistake, so the time spent was worthwhile. Pete also taught Dad something else the following morning. He was going to say “sorry it took you so long to check my Math” but instead he said “thanks for checking my Math”. He had heard somewhere that it is better to say “thanks” than “sorry”. Which made sense to Dad too.