What's It Worth To You?

Yesterday, Starshine went to the eye doctor because A) he is far-sighted, like me, and B) his glasses were crushed the other day at school by an errant back pack. When asked how his glasses came to be sitting on the floor in the general vicinity of the back packs in the first place, he was quite vague.

The dr. ran through various tests and then came to the point where he was figuring out Starshine's prescription by having him look through lenses and read rows of fine print.

He toggled the lenses, put them up to Starshine's face, held out a card and said, "Please read the bottom line."

To which Starshine responded, "Sure! For five bucks."

"Five bucks?"

"Yes. I want five bucks. Otherwise, I don't read the line."

"I don't have five bucks," said the dr.

"Well, what do you have?"

"Gumballs."

"I'll take five gumballs."

"Deal," the dr. said.

Starshine flawlessly read the line, pocketed his gumballs, and came home with the skewed world view that any dr. he visits from this point on will have an acceptable bribe waiting for him.