A German law professor once gave his entire class the same written exam.
The case was simple:
Two neighbors were in a legal dispute. One had apple trees, and the branches hung over the fence, dropping apples onto the other neighbor’s tulip beds. The falling apples broke the delicate flower stems.
Half the class sided with the tulip lover.
The other half defended the orchard owner.
They all quoted statutes, paragraphs, and showed off their impressive knowledge of German property law.
But in the end, the professor pointed out one simple fact:
Apples fall in the fall. Tulips bloom in the spring.
The situation they had been analyzing so thoroughly could never actually happen.
All protests were met with the professor’s calm response:
“Before you start quoting the law, try using common sense.”
