My daughter and I were standing on line in an upscale cross-country ski lodge near Sun Valley. The man in front of us ordered for himself and then his somewhat younger and obviously starstruck female companion. Their order consisted of two hamburgers, two coffees, and two large chocolate-chip cookies, and their bill came to about $30. He handed the guy behind the counter a $100 bill and said, just a bit louder than necessary, “Keep the change.”
I caught my daughter’s eye, curious to see if she had noticed. It appeared that she had. After they had left with their order, I remarked, “It looks like he’s trying to impress her.”
My daughter looked across the room at the two of them, where he was holding forth about something and she was sitting and drinking in every word. After a pause, my daughter said: “I think it worked.”