This is a true story. Only the names have been changed.
At the age of 16 William Small persuaded his Mum to teach him how to make the brownies for which she was famous. It was a family secret she shared with nobody.
He wrapped them in cellophane and sold them to two local tea rooms where they walked off the shelves. After about three weeks the orders from these tearooms increased and two convenience stores offered to stock his brownies. He asked his Mum to bake more brownies so that he could expand. She told him that she had a full-time job and still had to cook when she got home and had a home to clean and that she was not prepared to get up at four in the morning to bake for him.
He bought three second-hand domestic ovens and set them up in their garage. He got up at four in the morning to bake and delivered the brownies on the way to school. He soon discovered that he could expand his business by buying more ovens and paying his friends to help him bake and deliver.
At the age of 18 he approached a local bread bakery and asked whether he could bake biscuits when they were not using their ovens. They told him they baked bread from 8pm to 4am and then began deliveries around the countryside. He was able to use their ovens from 4am to 6 am six days a week and a few years later purchased the bakery and converted it to become a two shift biscuit manufacturing factory.
One of the sales representatives he hired was rude to several clients who stopped ordering from his company, so he sacked her on the spot without observing labour legislation regulations.
When he wound up at an employment tribunal hearing where he was asked three questions:
Did you fire her?
He answered “Yes”
Did you hold a hearing?
He replied “No”.
Why did you break the law?
This is a typical Perry Mason trick/trap.
This trick trap involves trying to hang you with “logic”. Your opponent will ask if you agree that such and such is true. When you answer “Yes” because the answer Is self-evident, he will ask a second question which implies that it follows from the first. If you reply “Yes” he will ask the third question which, if you answer affirmatively, he will pronounce you “Guilty”.
Lesson
- Do not answer leading questions, or at least not without qualifications.
- If you are caught out, you need to insist that there were exceptional circumstances. Recognise your opponent is using the Logic Trap as soon as the second question is asked.