Two mathematicians were having dinner in a restaurant, arguing about the average mathematical knowledge of the American public. The cynical mathematician claimed that this average was woefully inadequate, the optimistic one maintained that it was surprisingly high.
"I'll tell you what," said the cynic, "ask that waitress a simple math question. If she gets it right, I'll pick up dinner. If not, you do." She then excused herself to visit the ladies' room, and the optimistic one called the waitress over.
"When my friend comes back," he told her, "I'm going to ask you a question, and I want you to respond `one third x cubed.' There's twenty bucks in it for you." The waitress agreed.
The cynical mathematician returned from the ladies' room and called the waitress over. "The food was wonderful, thank you," she said. "Incidentally, do you know what the integral of x squared is?"
The waitress looked pensive; almost pained. She looked around the room, at her feet, made gurgling noises, and finally said, "Um, one third x cubed?"
So the cynic paid the check. The waitress wheeled around, walked a few paces away, looked back at the mathematicians, and muttered under her breath, "...plus a constant."
