A man walked into an old library, known for its extreme quietness. The librarian, looking over her glasses, put a finger to her lips, signaling him to be silent.
The man whispered, “Excuse me, where is the restroom?”
The librarian frowned, approached the man, and in a very low voice, said, “Sir, this is a library. Please be quiet.”
The man insisted, whispering even more softly, “But I need to go to the restroom!”
The librarian sighed, wrote something on a piece of paper, and handed it to the man. The paper read: “Third door down the hall.”
The man read the paper, nodded, and went to the restroom. A few minutes later, he returned and approached the librarian.
“Thank you very much,” he whispered. “I appreciate your help. But I have a question: Why didn’t you just tell me directly instead of writing it down?”
The librarian looked around, made sure no one was listening, then leaned towards the man and whispered: “Because, sir, even saying the word ‘restroom’ out loud is forbidden here.“