"So, would you describe this situation as a loose moose or a runaway train?"
"Lil' Robert Ludlow is a force of nature, proving a little knowledge of algebra is a dangerous thing."
Ten-year-old Andrew Ludlow made his way to a scene that had baffled even his and Lil' Robert's grandfather, Capt. R.E. Ludlow. Neither were privy to the conversation of Mr. Thomas and Mrs. Velma Stepforth about how five-year-old Lil' Robert had learned one thing in algebra and was arguing down everyone too old to remember how to pen down how elementary algebra worked.
Andrew's baby brother had also somehow picked up that mathematicians had to write proofs for their math, and so had gotten a whole big drawing pad and some red crayons and was writing down all the things he needed to make his point.
"See, you can use just three numbers to count to any number -- the X stands for 'skip a few,' and there's no number you can't put over on the other side of the equal sign for which it doesn't work!"
And he was just going, showing how he could get to any number greater than 3, no matter how large by counting "1, 2, skip a few -- and boom, the number!" All his equations were in the form of one plus two plus X equals whatever number anybody gave him -- and he was just adding zeroes at this point until he looked up and saw his grandfather.
"Papa, I know I'm getting grounded for all this noise, but, see, you gotta hear me out, because, see, you read Jesus telling us we would know the truth and the truth would make us free, so--."
"No, this little boy did not just quote the Bible!" Mrs. Velma Stepforth said as she cracked up laughing.
"All of these are true, Papa -- they all work!" Lil' Robert was saying as he waved all those papers in the air until he got off balance and fell down.
"Yes, but, there are facts and there are processes," Capt. Ludlow said gently. "Sometimes things are done when you put them on paper, and sometimes you have to do more work with them."
"But you see all this work!" Lil' Robert said and started waving papers again.
"Papa, I created this problem," Andrew said, "and I gotta solve it -- Rob, if I tell you I am giving you ten sausages, and I say "1, 2, skip a few, 10!" and only hand you three sausages, you're going to try to beat me up."
"This is true too," Lil' Robert said. "I don't care how big you are -- you're not cheating me!"
"OK, so, Robert, this is the thing: you don't have to sit and count to a big number because we can use X for that, but when it really counts, we do algebra, not just look at it, to get our count right. Look here."
Andrew took a piece of his brother's paper.
"All of these are true, but we gotta do something with them, and that thing is 'solve for X.' You want all ten sausages, so I gotta figure out that if I give you three, X is all the other sausages you still need."
"Yep, you better," Lil' Robert said.
"So then, one plus two is three, and three plus X is ten, which means that ten minus three is X, so we get all the numbers over here and X over there."
"OK," Lil' Robert said.
"So then, we just have to figure out what ten minus three is -- hold up all of your fingers, put three down and count the rest."
"Is this a subtraction thing, because, see, I hate subtraction," Lil' Robert said.
"We gotta figure out how many more sausages you need, though," Andrew said.
"Well, OK," Lil' Robert said and did what he was told. "It's seven."
"That's what's in the 'skip a few,' or the X, for this equation here," Andrew said. "We gotta always solve for X, because when real things and people are on the line, we gotta not skip a few or leave what is needed in X!"
"OK, it makes sense now," Lil' Robert said, and sat patiently learning as his brother patiently solved all the equations he had written down. "That's way too much work, but, see, it's still shorter than counting."
"It is," Andrew said. "So, addition is faster counting, and subtraction is counting backward. Multiplication is bigger and faster addition, and division is just bigger and faster subtraction. Algebra gives us ways to use all that even if we don't know what all the numbers are -- you were right on that part, Rob. We just gotta remember to finish the process so we know what we are doing at the end."
"I'm glad you got here before anything was built, Andy, because, Rob, no!" six-year-old Grayson Ludlow said as he came with his little red wagon loaded with Legos. "Look, see, this Lego set here needs me to put down 16 Legos at the bottom so the building doesn't fall over, so if I try to '1, 2, skip a few,' look what happens!"
Grayson got busy and put three Legos at the bottom, and, of course, the building tipped over.
"Oh, no," Lil' Robert said. "I was right, but not right enough!"
"It's OK, Rob, because you're five," Grayson said, "but when you get to be six and have to become a responsible person --."
"Lil' Robert held them all, Andrew hit them with the algebraic shock and awe, and Grayson cleared the battlefield," Capt. Ludlow said to his wife Thalia. "They had to run to keep from dying laughing right there -- and they are still laughing, and those boys are still doing live applied mathematics in the living room with Legos, crayons, white drawing and blue construction paper -- because you know Grayson is making his blueprints!"
"And you are still just a little red in the face, Robert," Mrs. Ludlow said kindly.
"I had an out-of-body experience," Capt. Ludlow said. "My soul was laughing uproariously, my spirit was overwhelmed with knowing this is how I have so often been in the world having no clue but still being loved and helped by God and thus overwhelmed with the need to fall down and worship in gratitude while also being overwhelmed with God the Father's love for our grandchildren, while my body was maintaining its command training and looking calm. The net result was that I said, "It's really hot out here -- let's do more inside with some lemonade, and so we made it in here so that our neighbors will not just die laughing!"
"Gotta contain all that Ludlowness safely -- meanwhile, Robert, George is hiding out in his room, because he said, 'I'm just trying to be a normal little boy -- there's too much smarts out here.' So I gave him that graphic artist comic version of Pilgrim's Progress to read --."
That was it for Capt. Ludlow, who bowed -- "You are victorious, my lady!" -- and retreated to find himself three pillows to laugh into until he cried!