There was once a poor shoemaker whose shop was next to a fine restaurant. Every day the shoemaker would take his simple lunch out to the back of his shop, where he took great pleasure in the mouth-watering aromas floating out of the restaurant kitchen next door.
One day the shoemaker received an invoice from the restaurant for his lunches, and he went to speak to the manager about it. The manager said, “You are enjoying my food while you eat, so you should pay for it!”
The shoemaker refused to pay and the restaurant sued him. The judge asked the restaurant manager for his side of the story at the hearing.
The manager said, “Every day, this shoemaker sits near our kitchen and smells our food while he eats his lunch. We are adding value to his meal, and we should be paid for it.”
The judge then asked the shoemaker for his side of the story.
The shoemaker said nothing, but stuck his hand in his pocket and rattled around the change he had inside.
“What is the meaning of that?” asked the judge.
The shoemaker answered, “I’m paying for the smell of his food with the sound of my money.”
Seems like a fair exchange to me!
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