Stupid questions: The 'Guess my age' game

"Guess how old I am? Go on, have a guess! You'll never guess!"

Previously on the Charles Fudgemuffin blog I've highlighted stupid questions, and perhaps the most stupid question of all-time can be found at the following link:

"And the award for the most stupid question ever goes to..."

All of the previously featured stupid questions have been stupid because the answer is so obvious.  However, this week's stupid question is stupid for another reason.

The stupid question in question this week is the question...

"How old do you think I am?"

Perhaps this would be better described as a 'dangerous' question, rather than a stupid question, but either way, you'd have to be stupid to risk answering it.  And if anyone ever does answer this question, they never answer honestly.  Instead, their mind process works like this...

"Hmm, how many years should I knock off to be on the safe side?  If I knock off too many years it'll be obvious that I'm lying, but if I don't knock off enough years then they might get offended.  Hmm..."

I find the safest strategy is to refuse point blank to answer, as illustrated by the following story...

A friend and I were once at a party when one woman started going around asking people to guess how old she was.  From her excited body language and her happy smiling face, it was obvious that she was of the opinion that she looked many years younger than she actually was, and she was offering encouragement along the lines of...

"Go on, just guess.  I won't be offended.  Just guess.  Have a guess how old I am.  Don't worry, I won't be offended.  Just have a guess."

I stuck to my usual strategy and refused point blank to answer the question.  However, after much persistent cajoling my friend eventually caved in and guessed...

"45?"

This clearly wasn't the answer the woman was anticipating.

By her reaction you would think my mate had burnt her house down, got her sacked from her job and then faked evidence to get her put in prison.  I've never seen someone get more offended in my entire life!  Her reaction was something along the lines off...

"45!!?!?  ***** *******!!  You cheeky *******!!!  45!!??!!  I've not sitting here to listen to this!!!  ****** **** ******!!!  45!!?!?!  You cheeky *****!!!  ****** 45!!?!?

If you're looking for a safe game to play I suggest Scrabble,
which is much safer than the 'Guess My Age' game.

I'm 42!!!!

I don't have to put up with this!!!"

And she stormed off outside into the garden, no doubt to cajole someone else into guessing her age with false promises that she wouldn't be offended.

After her departure I immediately said to my mate, "Why did you say 45?  You should have lied!  You should have knocked a few years off!"

To which my mate replied, "I did!  I thought she was 50!"

It all goes to show that the 'guess my age' game is fraught with danger, and while the safe option might appear to be to knock a few years off, the safest option of all is simply to refuse to answer.

I highlight more stupid questions in the blog posts below:
"And the award for the most stupid question ever goes to..."
Stupid questions (part 3)

And if you've ever wondered, 'Hmm, am I really old, or am I still quite young?', then check out the following quizzes to help you find out!
The 'Are You Officially Old?' Quiz
The 'Are You Officially Old?' Quiz (Part 2)