How to Make Things Faster

Chapter 79. The Leather Jacket

One cool autumn day, I walked into the office wearing a brand-new leather jacket that my wife had helped me pick out the night before at the outlet mall. A friend complimented me and asked—if I didn’t mind telling—how much that new jacket cost.

I told him I’d paid a hundred dollars for it.

“A hundred dollars!” That seemed to excite him, “I have a jacket nearly just like that—it may not be as nice as the one you’re wearing—and it cost me three times that much!”

Hearing that made me pleased that I bought the jacket my wife had recommended, even though I’d been nervous about it in the store.

Then he said, knowing that I would know what he meant, “I think I’ll go buy myself one of those tonight. It’ll bring my average price per jacket down to just two hundred dollars. Then, I’ll feel better about myself.”