Well, if I called the wrong number, why did you answer the phone? — James Thurber

Well, if I called the wrong number, why did you answer the phone?

Author: James Thurber

Insight: There's something wonderfully absurd about this question—it cuts right through the way we often point fingers instead of looking at ourselves. Someone calls a wrong number, gets frustrated, and somehow the person who picked up becomes the problem. But Thurber's joke works because it exposes how we all do this: we blame circumstances, other people, bad luck, anything but our own confusion or mistake. The quote hits differently today when miscommunication is everywhere. We send a message to the wrong group chat and get annoyed that people saw it. We show up late to a meeting scheduled in a different time zone and somehow it feels like everyone else's fault. We ask a vague question and feel irritated when we don't get the answer we wanted. There's an almost childish logic to it—if things went wrong, surely it's because someone else did something wrong back. The sneaky insight here is that Thurber is gently pointing out how convenient it is to blame others. The real humor lies in recognizing that voice in ourselves, that moment when we're indignant about something we actually caused. Once you notice it, you can't unsee how often people (and you) do this.