10 men walk into a bar, they find that they can get more drinks if they buy in bulk rather than if they bought individually. So they elect one person to work out a deal with the bartender. This person goes up to the bartender and says, “We’ve pooled our money together and would like to buy some drinks.” The bartender looks at the man and finds that he’s pooled a total of $30.00 for the drinks. The bartender says he can provide 3 gallons for that amount. The men drink, they’re happy and they leave for the night.
The next weekend they meet again at the same bar, they elect the same person who tells them he can work out a deal to get more drinks. So they send him over to the bartender. The spokesperson says “We’ve pooled our money together and would like to buy some drinks, we have $30.00, but I would like 4 gallons instead of 3”. The bartender says, “Well, only way you can do that is if I open a tab for you to charge the extra gallon to, would your friends mind owing me $10.00 for the extra gallon?” Knowing that this would make his friends happy to see that he brings back more drinks, he decides to speak on the other’s behalf. “Sure, they won’t mind” he says.
He brings back 4 gallons for his 10 friends and they are happy to see that they got the right man to speak for them. After all, they can pay back the money at any time, and since none of them personally owes the money, they don’t really see any reason to worry about it. Their spokesperson is given all kinds of praise for a job well done.
The next weekend, all 10 friends walk into the same bar, one of the men stands up and says he can get 5 gallons if they would just pay him $35.00. Wow, what a great deal, that’s even better than the 4 gallons for $30.00. They all decide to jump on this chance for a new spokesperson.
He goes up to the bartender and says, “I have $35.00, how much can I get?” The bartender says “Well, you already owe me $10.00, and you can get 2.5 gallons after that.” The spokesperson says, “Let’s apply $10.00 to the debt we owe you and let’s get 5 gallons, since that’s what I promised them. Can we charge the extra amount?” The bartender then charges the extra $25.00 to their account for the extra 2.5 gallons that the spokesperson requests.
He brings back 5 gallons for his 10 friends and they are happy to see that they got the right man to speak for them. Everyone drinks and is even happier than they were before. That 3 gallons they had before was nothing compared to the 5 gallons they get now!
The next week, same story, except they work out a way to get 6 gallons for the $35.00….charging $25 more to their account. Now they have a total of $50.00 charged to their account. How will they ever pay that back and still enjoy their 6 gallons of drinks every week? After all, with all the work they do during the week, they really don’t deserve any less.
The next week, one of the men in the group stands up and proposes they stop charging for more drinks and start living within their means. “We need to go back to 3 gallons of drinks each week, I want to be our next spokesperson” he says. The friends reject this as crazy talk. Why would they ever cut back to 3 gallons each week when they have 6 gallons each week and can always increase the bartender tab. After all, the bartender has never given them a limit right? And all they need to do is agree among the majority to keep increasing their tab.
Yes, this man MUST be crazy.
