Billy Idol Gets It

Why doesn't Jay?

Last night, right before I went up to bed, I checked the interwebs to see what doins where a happenin'. SCU directed me to the Nennth Inning (which I STILL cannot get onto my blog roll) and a discussion of book value taking place. I ususally stay out of these discussions. There isn't anything that I can say that Gellman hasn't already said, and said better. If you haven't read the post and discussion, you should. It's highly entertaining.

But it got me thinking, maybe I'm looking at this wrong. Maybe there's something I haven't thought of yet. I asked my self these questions because the whole argument seems like a no-brainer. I decided to ask my wife. This is that brief exchange:

Me: Hey Katie, what is something worth?

Wife: What is what worth?

Me: Anything. What is anything worth in general?

Wife: What someone will pay you for it.

Me: OK. What if I had a widget store, and a book that told me what the widgets were worth. Now, you like widgets and came into my store. You found a Widget that you like and my book told me to charge $30. But, you know you could get the same exact widget on Ebay for $7. What would you do?

Wife: I'd get it on Ebay.

Me: Right.

Wife: And, you probably wouldn't be in business for very long.

Me: I don't suppose I would.

Wife: I don't think you should say "worth"

Me: Huh?

Wife: Well, things are worth different things for different people. You should call it value. Your widget may be worth $30 to you, and you may not be willing to give it to me for less than $30. But the value is $7 because that's what I can buy it for. You should say value.

Me: I suppose I should.

Wife: And, your book is wrong.

Me: I guess it is.

Wife: Does this have something to do with baseball cards?

Me: Yes

Wife: I'm going to sleep now.

Me: Want to stay up for 2 more minutes?

Wife: Not really.

Me: OK.

I just wanted to post that because if Billy Idol gets it, and my wife gets it, how come Jay doesn't get it? I thought it might be somehow relevant that my wife (who could car less about baseball cards) inherantly understood the basic concept without thinking too hard about it.

My favorite line?..."your book is wrong"

My wife, like Martha Washington, is a hip, hip lady.