I'm thinking the reason why people think the author is "stupid" is because each is working with a different set of base assumptions. The worker can't imagine a

I'm thinking the reason why people think the author is "stupid" is because each is working with a different set of base assumptions. The worker can't imagine a case where the box dimensions would be material as that box is likely to be in the trash can in n minutes. The author wouldn't hit so many cases of being looked at crossly if they worked to bridge understanding with the other person. All of the cases presented suggest to me person may have some emotional intelligence to develop.