It seems there was a pretzel stand out front of an office building in New York. One day, a man came out of the building, plunked down a quarter, and then went on his way without taking a pretzel. This happened every day for three weeks. Finally, the old lady running the stand spoke up: “Sir, excuse me. May I have a word with you'

The fellow said: “I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to ask me why I give you a quarter every day and don’t take a pretzel.”

And the woman said, “Not at all. I just want to tell you that the price is now 35 cents.”

From a speech by William Schreyer, chairman of Merrill Lynch, Speaker’s Idea File, p. 13.