“Bobby, you look tired. Did you have a busy day?” Mary asked as we lounged around on her couches.
“Um…” He paused, searching for an appropriate answer.
“No,” I interrupted. “He did not have a busy day. He did nothing.”
“I did a lot of things! I woke up, I went to the gym, I stopped by your work, and I went to the store to buy a folder.”
I stared at him. “You went to the store specifically to buy a folder? Couldn’t you have just asked me to get you one from my work?”
“I didn’t think about it.”
“So, Bobby is tired because he had to go buy a folder today,” Mary said. “You must have a lot of spare time, if going to buy a folder is a big event.”
We all laughed. “Just out of curiosity,” I asked, “what did you need the folder for anyway?”
“I had to mail something.”
Silence.
“Did you mean an envelope?”
“Whatever,” Bobby replied defensively. “They both fold.”
More silence.
“Just because something folds does not make it an envelope or a folder. I can fold my sweatshirt and yet it is neither a folder nor an envelope.”
What color was the folder?
“What color was the folder?” Disregarding the fact we’ve already established the “folder” was actually an envelope, what does this question have to do with anything? Would knowing the “folder” was leopard print with green polka dots enhance the story? No, because it’s irrelevant.