Makes scents

Abe was a poor tailor whose shop was next door to a gourmet restaurant. Every day for lunch, Abe would eat his black bread and herring in the small garden at the back of his shop. He would always smell the wonderful odors emanating from the restaurant’s kitchen.

One day, the restaurant sent Abe an invoice. Abe went to see the manager to ask why.

The manager replied, “You’re enjoying my food, so you should pay for it.”

Abe refused to pay and the restaurant sued him. At the hearing, the judge asked the restaurant to present their side of the story.

They said, “Every day, this man comes and sits near our kitchen and visibly smells our food while eating his. We are obviously adding value to his cheap food and we deserve to be recompensed for it.”

The judge then asked Abe, “And what do you have to say about that?”

Abe said nothing but stuck his hand in his pocket and rattled around the coins he had inside.

The judge asked him, “What’s the meaning of that?”

Abe replied, “I am paying for the smell of his food with the sound of my money.”

© david minkoff