A mother from the UK has been left utterly perplexed after attempting to help her young son with a piece of school homework, prompting her to email the teacher for urgent clarification.
The Baffling Homework Question
The incident, which occurred in January 2026, saw the boy return from school with an assignment that his mum, Paige Freshwater, simply couldn't decipher. The confusing question read: "A guest of a hotel went down 3 floors in the elevator. How many floors did the room attendant go down? (1 point)." It was followed by four possible answers: |3|, 3, -3, and |3| again.
"Sometimes I just can't help my son with his school work without sending an email," the mum explained on Reddit. Her primary confusion stemmed from the wording, leading her to ask, "My question is, 'Who is the attendant?'"
Social Media Weighs In With Theories
The online community quickly divided into camps trying to solve the puzzle. One user argued logically that the answer must be zero, stating: "A guest is different from a room attendant therefore the room attendant did not use the elevator at all." They emphasised that there simply wasn't enough information given to solve the problem.
Others believed it was a mathematical trick question focusing on the concept of absolute value. A third commenter explained: "It’s |3|. It’s asking for the absolute value... If you went up or down 3 floors, it’s |3|." However, this was immediately countered by another user who pointed out that "The absolute value is 3, not |3|. The latter is an operation to get an absolute value."
Frustration was a common theme, with one baffled person admitting, "I have no idea how to solve this. I am eagerly waiting for an answer though." Another dismissed the entire task, claiming the question itself was flawed and didn't make logical sense.
Awaiting the Teacher's Verdict
While the debate raged online between those interpreting it as a logic puzzle and those seeing a maths lesson on absolute values, the mum decided to go straight to the source. She has sent an email to her son’s school teacher and is now patiently awaiting an official response to finally settle the matter.
The story highlights a common frustration for many parents navigating modern curricula, where ambiguous wording can turn a simple homework task into a head-scratching puzzle for the whole family.
