Two things caused me to do a double take recently.  Here’s the first one:

It’s a bottle of Evian water in a hotel room, selling for $5.  Yes, that’s right, five bucks. It made me wonder what the mini-bar prices looked like. The bottle was placed strategically on the desk in the room, for the executive working on his laptop, reading email, and just thirsty enough to grab that bottle. Ah, the price of convenience.

Actually, what someone else pointed out to me is that this is an indication of an economic model where the buyer is insensitive to the price because someone else is paying for it. Who cares if you spend $5 on a bottle of water when it’s on the company tab?

The second double take occurred this week, as I was leaving the parking lot of the Whole Foods grocery store in Boulder.  My sister and I were waiting to turn right out of the parking lot and next to the car stood a man with a sign, "Visions of a Cheeseburger."  My first reaction was, "How about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead?"  Really. What happened to "Buddy, can you spare some change?" I wish I had had my camera with me.  Only in Boulder.