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What's not mentioned in the story is that the tenth guy owned the bar. Not only was he drinking for free, he keeps his overhead down by not paying the first fou
by Harkins 18y ago
What's not mentioned in the story is that the tenth guy owned the bar. Not only was he drinking for free, he keeps his overhead down by not paying the first four guys (migrant workers) much of anything and occasionally chats with other bar owners to make sure nobody charges too little.
The other nine guys might have learned this, but the local paper needed the bar's advertising dollars and the local politicians are the tenth guy's golfing buddies.
- yummyfajitas 18y agoIn that case, after they beat up the tenth guy, they can only afford about half as much beer as before. Or rather, they would be able to afford half as much beer if the bar were still operating... This is very bad, since the first 4 guys really need a drink, having just lost their job. By the way, really not HN. Somebody post this on reddit, it will make their heads explode.
- ajross 18y agoTrue enough. The other missing bit from the metaphor is that the 10th guy is actually buying most of his beer (and overwhelmingly more beer) at the "long term" rate, which is the same rate that the other guys would pay. So while his bar tab looks high, he drinks at home for almost free. Needless to say, he doesn't spend much time in the bar. Also, while it's stepping outside the clever metaphor: the 10th guy is literally tens of thousands of times wealthier than the 1st guy. Most normal people would consider that an important moral point in any discussion about who is paying "too much" for their beer.