A closer look
Money behaves less like a calculator and more like a magician’s illusion. Take gift cards: instead of spending them right away, many people hoard them as if the plastic had sentimental power, even while inflation sneaks value away. Walk into an all-you-can-eat buffet and suddenly logic vanishes—we shovel more pasta, not for hunger, but to ‘get our money’s worth,’ like contestants in a bizarre game show. And who doesn’t feel a sudden thrill from a tax refund, even though it’s just your own money returning home? It proves that handling money is less about numbers and more about the emotional stories we weave around value, guilt, and small bursts of reward.
