Commentary
A mother gave her 8-year-old daughter $20 to spend at a theme park. The child—let us call her Nancy—wanted to buy a colourful T-shirt with her money. The mother, who had also prepared a delicious lunch box, chaperoned her excited child.
At lunchtime, the child observed other children eating luscious chips, and she asked her mother to buy her a punnet of chips. But the mother said: “you have $20, so you can buy the chips yourself, but remember: if you do buy the chips, you won’t be able to purchase your favourite T-shirt you wanted to have.”
Nancy reflected on her mother’s admonition, and she grudgingly resisted her urge to purchase a punnet of chips, instead eating the lunch prepared by her mother because she did not want to miss the opportunity to acquire her favourite T-shirt, which she then proceeded to buy with her cash….