The Bitter Truth

(This is an eighth grade science class, and we are talking about genetics. Our teacher hands out slips of paper which he says have PTC on them, an extremely bitter chemical which only some people can taste. The students are not informed that it tastes bitter.)

Teacher: “Have any of you ever tasted PTC before?”

(Several students raise their hands, including Student #1 and Student #2.)

Teacher: “Place the paper on your tongue. How many of you can taste it?”

(Student #1 raises hand, and exclaims:)

Student #1: “It tastes sweet, kinda like sugar paper!”

(A few other students raise their hands.)

Student #2: *who has tasted it before* “I don’t taste anything.”

Teacher: “THAT was a normal piece of paper. You weren’t supposed to taste anything.”

(The class burst out laughing, while Student #1, who was obviously lying, became slightly red and sheepish. The teacher then handed out the slips of paper ACTUALLY infused with PTC, which was extremely bitter and made several students rush to the water fountain.)