Everyone Wants The Toilet, Nobody Wants the Bill

No one wants to spend money. Not me. Not you. Nobody. In an ideal world, we'd all have money trees. Unfortunately, that's not how it works.

One day, a man walked into my office because he wanted to hire a matchmaker. There was just one problem. He didn't want to spend any money. Guess what he did for a living? He sold toilets. Toilets.

After we talked for a while, he leaned back in his chair and said, "I want to think about it."

I said, "Okay, let me ask you a question. You sell toilets, right?" "Yes." "What happens when someone's toilet breaks and they need a new one, but they want to think about it?"

He didn't answer. So I kept going. "Do they go next door and borrow the neighbor's toilet? Do they walk outside and pee on a tree? What exactly is the plan when you don't have a working toilet?"

He laughed. Because he knew where I was going.

When people need a toilet, they buy a toilet. Not because they enjoy spending money. Because they need a solution. Nobody wakes up excited to buy a toilet. They buy one because the old one doesn't work.

Then I asked him another question. "Are you planning to borrow your neighbor's girlfriend?" He laughed again. "No." "Then what's your plan?"

The truth is, nobody wants to spend money. We spend money because we want an outcome. The roof keeps the rain out. The dentist saves the tooth. The plumber fixes the leak. The toilet flushes.

And sometimes people hire a matchmaker because they're tired of doing it alone. Not because they love spending money. Because they want the outcome. A relationship. A partner. A future.

The funny thing is that the toilet salesman understood this better than most people. He sold solutions all day long. He just forgot that when he sat down in my office.

Then he smiled. Pulled out his checkbook. Wrote the check. And handed it to me.

Apparently, he decided not to borrow his neighbor's girlfriend after all.