One of my regular readers and harshest critics, my wife, complained that my recent posts have been too pedagogical and lacked my storytelling instincts. So this post is for her.

Have you seen the recent commercial about buying a used car? It compares the experience to a dinner out and asks whether you ever worry about having to haggle over price at a restaurant. It then encourages you to shop at a specific used car dealer where you don’t have to bargain about price.

Recently my wife and I recently bought a new mattress. So now you’re wondering what that has to do with eating out or buying a used car. The answer is simple: My order of preference for the three actions is to 1) eat out, 2) buy a used car, and 3) buy a mattress. Fortunately, I buy a mattress even less often than I buy cars.

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