Don't think yourself stupid! :)

My brother and I walked over to my sister's place.

"Let's get something from that sweet store across from her flat" he said.

After a detour to that store, we walked in with keera vadai, vegetable cutlets, and chumchum.  Sister made tea (black for me, of course!) and we talked about stuff.

Somehow the chat turned to the topic of real estate prices in the city.  The figures are simply astounding.  So, naturally, I asked, "how do people afford such prices?"

The response was that professionals earn quite a salary these days.

"But, what about people like the domestic help?  I mean, where do they live?  How do they survive?  After the cyclone rains the domestic help didn't come over because of the water-logging."

Turns out that Earl has sane advice for idiots like me:

I laugh now, but I know I will keep asking these questions forever.  After all, that is why I ditched engineering!