The thirty-dollar meal²⁷

Many years ago I went to a restaurant alone. The waiter was wearing a tie and a black suit. He asked me if I had thirty dollars. He said, “Here the minimum is thirty dollars.”

I had two hundred dollars or more in my wallet but I said, “I thank you,” and went away.

The waiter probably thought that I didn’t have thirty dollars. But although I did have it, I said to myself, “What am I going to eat for thirty dollars?” That is why I went away.