Hitmen

So you’re going to have a party at your house this weekend. It's an enclosed space. You’re going to invite 1,000 people and 5 of those people are going to bring a hitman with them. Each of those hitmen will have a gun. Each hitman has 6 bullets. The gun can only shoot up to 15 feet. The hitman is going to shoot all 6 bullets. 2 of the bullets are going to miss, but it’s still stressful. 3 of the bullets will hit their targets, not necessarily killing them but injuring them to varying degrees. Some of those injuries could cause damage that could last for months or even years. 1 of the bullets will most likely kill somebody. These hitmen have the ability to multiply when they are among crowds of people and any target they hit also gets its very own hitman. The 5 hitmen cannot be separated from the 5 people they come to the party with. Those are the rules. One last thing, with 1,000 people at your house there is no way you can make sure that those hitmen with their guns that only shoot up to 15 feet can maintain a 15 foot distance from your other guests. No one is safe.

When your guests arrive to the party you see the 5 guests that have the hitmen with them. As those 5 people come to your door you say; “Hey, you can’t come in here with those hitmen. Do you think I’m crazy or something?!” and you turn them away. Problem solved.

You decide to have a party at your house the next weekend. You invite 1,000 people again. Now 15 of the people have hitmen with them. Remember how I told you they could multiply? These hitmen are pissed off because they know you won’t let them into your party, so they found a way to make themselves invisible. Their ability to become invisible is so good that even the guests that bring them do not know they are with them. All the other rules still apply. You’re no dummy though. You knew they would be able to do this, so you purchased special equipment that lets you see these invisible and deadly intruders. Now when each guest comes to your door you use this equipment to identify which guests have brought these hitmen with them. When these guests try to enter you say; “Nice try, but I can see you and your hitman and there’s no way I am going to let you in. Do you think I’m crazy or something?!” Once again, problem solved.

You decide to have 1 more party the next week. 1,000 guests. This time there will be 30 hitmen. Yup, they still can multiply in the general population. This time however not only are they invisible but they have found a way to make themselves so tiny that your fancy new hitman spotting equipment can’t detect them. Even though they are too tiny for you to spot, their guns with their 6 bullets are still as effective as ever. Whatever will you do?

Well aren’t you the lucky one? You have just learned that if the guests that bring the hitmen were to wear surgical style face masks they would make the hitmen they must bring with them ineffective. Not only that, but the hitmen would be rendered impotent because under these conditions they could not multiply. You’ll even supply the masks and since you cannot tell which guests will have the hitmen with them you must insist that all the guests wear them. That includes yourself too because one of the hitmen could even be with you. This time when your guests come to the door you say; “Hey, put this on. No mask, no admittance! What do you think, I’m crazy or something?!”

What do you think. Are you crazy or something?!