Homer’s Brain: Twenty dollars can buy many peanuts!
Homer: Explain how!
Homer’s Brain: Money can be exchanged for goods and services!
Homer: Woo hoo!
– The Simpsons
This wasn’t by design, but I’ve had nothing to eat all day but a couple of breath mints and a Dr. Pepper I snagged from a soda machine in the building next door (our break room is empty; our own soda machine was unplugged). I tried going to lunch, and, despite the awful snow-choked roads and brakes that weren’t always as responsive as I’d like, I made it as far as the nearby Burger King. But, once there, I discovered that I only had one measly, wrinkled dollar bill left in my wallet and so I turned tail and headed back to work. Of course, now that I think about it, I realize I also had ten dollars worth of quarters in a roll in my jacket pocket, three of which I used later to buy my soda. I’m starting to feel pretty foolish for not exchanging them for food. Breath mints are not what I would call filling.