They All Thought Little Johnny Was Foolish—Until He Revealed His Brilliant Financial Scheme
Little Johnny was constantly being teased by the older neighborhood kids, who all firmly believed he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.
Their absolute favorite game to play was to corner Johnny and offer him a choice between a nickel (five cents) and a dime (ten cents). Every single time, without fail, Johnny would flash a big grin and eagerly snatch the nickel, leaving the other boys laughing hysterically at how “stupid” he was.
One afternoon, a kindly neighbor watched this happen. Feeling sorry for the boy, he walked over and pulled Johnny aside for a quiet word.
“Johnny,” the neighbor said gently, “those boys are making fun of you. Don’t you know that a dime is worth twice as much as a nickel, even though the nickel happens to be bigger?”
Johnny looked around to make sure the other kids were out of earshot, grinned from ear to ear, and whispered:
“Oh, I know that! But if I took the dime, they’d stop playing the game… and so far, I’ve made $20!”
