After loading up their plates at the free all-you-can-eat Happy Hour spread of a local pub, a banker, a homeowner and a politician belly up to the bar.
"Whoa," exclaimed the owner/operator bartender who paid for the food. "Y'all get enough to eat, or shall I go out and butcher a steer?"
The banker, the homeowner and the politician did not get the sarcasm and stared blankly at the bartender, waiting to be served.
"Alrighty then," the bartender continued, "can I get you each a couple gallons of something to wash it down with?"
The banker, the homeowner and the politician disappeared into the bathroom to confer amongst themselves, asking the bartender to watch "their" stuff and save "their" seats.
When they returned, they told the bartender that, while they appreciated his offer of gallons of liquid, there was no way to know whether it would be enough.
"Just give me the hose that connects to the carbonated drink tanks," said the homeowner, thinking of the one coiled neatly in the backyard of the oversized house that he would keep, thanks to a flow of contributions from others, many of whom didn't own homes at all.
"And I'll just take the beer taps," said the politician modestly.
"And you," the bartender sneered at the banker. "I s'pose you want all the hard liquor."
"Not exactly," began the banker. "First, the ordering process is substantially more complicated than lay people realize. There is an interconnectivity to consumption which, at a macro level, makes this virtually an international pub with an orbit of affects on the broader economic community."
"Sooo...you'll have the Pouilly Fuisse?"
"Sounds good...and the keys to your front door."
