with the somethingǤ–ƒ••›‘—ǡǮ‡›ǡ™‘—Ž†›‘—•‡ŽŽ‡–Š‡Ž‹ˆ‡›‘—ǯ”‡ƒ„‘—– –‘Ž‡ƒ†ǫǯdz The teacher paused there. DzŠƒ–Šƒ’’‡•‹ˆ›‘—•‡ŽŽ‹–ǫdzƒ•‡†ƒ˜‡”›•‡”‹‘—•„‘›ǡ”ƒ‹•‹‰Š‹•Šƒ†Ǥ Dz‘—ǯ† †‹‡ǡ  •—’’‘•‡ǡdz •Š‡ •ƒ‹† ƒ––‡”-of-ˆƒ…–Ž›Ǥ DzŠ‹…Š ‹• ™Š› ›‘—ǯŽŽ initially turn down the request. But the something ‹•’‡”•‹•–‡–ǤǮ —•–ŠƒŽˆǡ then. You have sixty more years ahead. Will you sell me thirty of them? You •‡‡ǡ”‡ƒŽŽ›‡‡†–Š‡ǡǯ‹–•ƒ›•Ǥdz At the time, I sat there with my fist propping up my cheek, thinking, Ah, I get it. I could sell that much. A shorter but richer life (within reason) was better than a longer but meager one, of course. Dz—–Š‡”‡ǯ•–Š‡’”‘„Ž‡Ǥ‘™—…Š’‡”›‡ƒ”™‹ŽŽ–Š‹•›•–‡”‹‘—•„—›‡” pay you for your life span? And let me tell you firstȄthere is no right answer. I just want to know what you think about this and what your ƒ•™‡”‹•Ǥ‘™ǡ–—”–‘–Š‡’‡‘’Ž‡•‹––‹‰‡ƒ”›‘—ƒ††‹•…—••Ǥdz The classroom began to buzz with conversation. But I did not take part. ‘”‡ƒ……—”ƒ–‡Ž›ǡ…‘—Ž†ǯ–Ǥ Because like the smarty-pants who brought up lifetime earnings earlier, I was considered something of a class pariah. Instead, I pretended not to be interested in the discussion and waited for the time to pass. Š‡ƒ”†–Š‡’‡‘’Ž‡‹–Š‡•‡ƒ–•ƒŠ‡ƒ†‘ˆ‡•ƒ›‹‰ǡDzˆƒ‡–‹”‡Ž‹ˆ‡‹• ™‘”–Š–Š”‡‡Š—†”‡†‹ŽŽ‹‘›‡ǡ–Š‡ǥdz ‡ŽŽǡ‹ˆ–Š‡›ǯ”‡™‘”–Š–Š”‡‡Š—†”‡†‹ŽŽ‹‘, I thought, then I should be worth three billion. †‘ǯ–”‡‡„‡”–Š‡ƒ…–—ƒŽ…‘•‡•—•‘ˆ–Š‡†‹scussion, just that it was pointless from start to finish. For one thing, the subject was far too complex for elementary school children to break down. Who knows if you could even get productive discourse out of a group of high schoolers? I do distinctly remember a passionate argument from a girl who had no ˆ—–—”‡ǡƒ•ˆƒ”ƒ•…‘—Ž†–‡ŽŽǡ–Šƒ–Dz›‘—…ƒǯ–’—–ƒ’”‹…‡‘Š—ƒŽ‹ˆ‡ǤdzSure, if Šƒ†ƒŽ‹ˆ‡Ž‹‡Š‡”•ǡ™‘—Ž†ǯ–’—–ƒ’”‹…‡‘‹–ǡ‡‹–Š‡”Ǥǯ†’”‘„ƒ„Ž›Šƒ˜‡–‘ sell it at a loss. Every class has some witty clown, and he was on the same train of –Š‘—‰Š–ƒ•‡ǤDzˆ•‘Ž†›‘—–Š‡”‹‰Š––‘Šƒ˜‡›Ž‹ˆ‡ǡ›‘—™‘—Ž†ǯ–‡˜‡’ƒ› –Š”‡‡Š—†”‡†›‡ǡ™‘—Ž†›‘—ǫdzŠ‡•ƒ‹†ǡ–‘Š‡ƒ”–›Žƒ—‰Š•Ǥƒ‰”‡‡†™‹–Š–Š‡ sentiment, but of course, he was only being sarcastically self-effacing for laughs and attention. He clearly considered himself to be far more valuable to the group than the boring, serious studentsȄa fact I found detestable.