Quickie

I just wanted to post about what I just watched on The Amazing Race. It basically summed up the economic idea of opportunity cost.


Opportunity cost is defined on Wikipedia.org as the cost of any activity measured in terms of the value of the next best alternative forgone (that is not chosen). It is the sacrifice related to the second best choice available to someone.


Basically it's making a choice, like not going to college so that one can make money immediately. Or choosing to go to college to make more money down the road.


The choice the man was faced with was finishing a dance or not. Sure it sounds trivial, but in context it was anything but. The man, whose partner is his best friend, had to perform an Indian dance to be able to move on to the finish line. The man was fatigued and on the verge of heat stroke when he asked himself the question, "Is the chance of winning a million dollars worth the risk of never seeing my kids again?" 


He decided that there was no way that a million dollars was worth not walking his daughter down the aisle or seeing one of his son's ballgames. 


His friend told him it was okay to give up. 


His friend told him that they came in as friends and were leaving as friends and that was enough for him. 


The man couldn't stand the idea of letting his friend down though and he went back to finish. Taking the time to rest allowed him to finally get the dance right and the two moved to the finish line. 


It might sound contradictory that the man said his children were worth more and then he went back to finish, but I think he showed resiliency. He was afraid of death, but more afraid of letting down his friend. 


And even though we're always told to live for ourselves, sometimes it's okay to live for somebody else, to put somebody else before yourself. Sometimes it's okay to care more about letting a friend down than worry about compromising yourself. 


NP: Desire- Ryan Adams