Two Days Ago, I was Seventeen Years Old
Next Year, I will be Twenty Years Old
How can this possibly be?

Arleen: How old are you, Bill?
Bill: I am eighteen. How old are you, Arleen?
Arleen: I'm seventeen.
Bill: Two days ago, I was seventeen years old.
Arleen: My brother is twenty.
Bill: Next year, I will be twenty.

Today, 18. Two days ago, 17. Next year, 20. How is this possible?

Do you need a few hints?

Scroll down if you need hints.

Try to find the answer for yourself before you scroll down.

• He was not born February 29.
• The years given are human years.
• Bill is human.
• He ages at the same rate that you do.
• Can you figure out how this is possible?
• Oh, yeah, it might help you to know that approximately 0.274% of the adults in the world "could" have had this conversation on the day after their eighteenth birthday, and about 0.274% of the kids in school will be able to have this conversation on the day after their 18th birthday.

Try to figure out the answer before you scroll down for more hints.

• Look at the calendar for more hints.
• Experiment with different dates for "today" and see what happens.

Need another hint? Scroll down after thinking about the above.

"Today" is one of the days in the period known as "The Twelve Days of Christmas" (the period from December 26 to January 6), which usually comes after Chanuka, after Saturnalia, after the Solstice, etc.

• Get out a calendar for December of last year and January of this year.
  While you're at it, get out a calendar for next year. You'll need it later.
• Pick one of the dates between December 26 and January 6
• The date you pick is "Today". Bill is 18
• The day before the date you pick is "Yesterday"
• "Yesterday" (whatever it was) was Bill's birthday.
  • Send your late birthday cards to Bill (at) DriverExam.org (just teasing!!)
• "Two days ago", Bill was 17
• Now, look at your calendar for December of next year.
  How old will Bill be on December 31 of "next year"?
• If he will be 20 on December 31 of next year, you have found your answer.
• If he will be 19 on December 31 of next year, keep looking. You will find the answer.
• What did you figure out?

Let me know if you need more help. As you can see, I prefer giving hints. Then you can have the fun of searching for the answer on your own. I bet you can easily find it.

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