Annie the Economist and the Perfect Brownies

It was the best part of the day.  Annie was at her favorite cookie store, Lily’s.  There was a perfect brownie on the shelf, the last one left and it was going to be Annie’s!  Most brownies are good, but few reach that height of greatness where they just glow at you from behind the display case.  There was only one person ahead of her, a rather severe looking old man. 

“I’ll take one brownie!” said the old man.  “Oh no!” said Annie to herself and lightly tapped her father’s leg, warning him about the unfolding tragedy.  

Her father reassured her.  “Don’t worry, Annie.  I see Lily is already taking out another tray of brownies.  You’ll be able to buy as many as you like.”  Annie’s eyes went very wide.  Her father quickly corrected himself, saying “What I mean is, you don’t have to worry about Lily running out of brownies and we will be able to buy one brownie in just a minute.”

Annie was still dreaming about buying all the brownies when their turn finally came.  But something was wrong.  These brownies looked different.  She couldn’t explain it, but there was no wonderful glow.  While she was trying to figure out the reason for the difference, her father ordered a brownie and gave it to Annie.  She wanted to be polite, so thanked her father for the brownie, and took a bite, but the taste confirmed what Annie’s eyes had told her: It wasn’t the perfect brownie.  She tried to smile but a disappointed look settled on her face.

Lilly, the store owner, had been watching Annie the whole time she was in the store, and came over.  “Not as good as the others, right?” said Lilly.  Annie nodded sadly.  “It’s very frustrating.  Lazy Louie makes the brownies at his store across town.  When he’s careful, there is nothing better in town.  But sometimes Lazy Louie just doesn’t pay enough attention to making the brownies.  They taste ok, but discriminating consumers like you and me can tell the difference.  I don’t know what to do!”

Annie loved an interesting problem as much as the perfect brownie. Well, ok not quite as much, but almost as much.  She was curious.  How could Lilly get Lazy Louie to make perfect brownies all the time?  Annie asked Lilly, “How come you don’t just send the brownies back to Louie when they aren’t as good?  Or maybe pay him less for merely ordinary brownies?” Lilly sighed when Annie asked the question.  “Lazy Louie has twin brother, Richard.  Richard is a really tough lawyer, who knows judges which don’t understand desserts.  Some of the judges prefer eating fruit to brownies.  Imagine choosing some banana or orange over a great pastry!”

“Anyway, I pay Lazy Louie $30 for a tray of brownies.  I could send back the tray if it is ordinary brownies.  I could also try to pay Louie less for them, maybe $15. If I did, Lazy Louie would call his twin brother and lawyer Richard, who would sue me in front of some judge with no taste in dessert. Lazy Louie would claim that the brownies were perfect, and I was just being mean.  The judge wouldn’t be able to tell the brownies are merely ordinary, and would agree with Louie and Richard.  But my customers know the difference.  If the brownies aren’t perfect, I only wind up selling half and throw out the rest.”  Annie nodded and walked out the store with her father, chewing sadly on the ordinary brownie. 

Annie couldn’t sleep at first when she first lay down in bed that night.  She kept thinking about Lilly, Lazy Louie, his brother Richard, and most of all about the brownies.  The perfect ones looked so amazing.  There had to be a way to make sure that Lazy Louie would pay better attention, and stope making ordinary brownies.  Lily could make a deal with Lazy Louie that he would only make perfect brownies… but if Lazy Louie got lazy again and delivered ordinary brownies, the courts couldn’t help because so many judges have bad taste in dessert.  Without courts that understand the perfect brownie, an agreement was no guarantee! 

Annie finally fell asleep, and had a nightmare.  She was an ordinary brownie, sitting in the display case at Lilly’s bakery.  Nobody wanted her.  Lily came by the case at the end of the day, shrugged, and picked up the tray.  Step by step, the tray, with Annie in it, came closer to the garbage can.  Annie woke up in a cold sweat just as she dreamed Lily was tipping the tray over.  Annie had to pinch herself to make sure she was still a little girl, and not a brownie at the bottom of a garbage bag with a bunch of stale cookies and rolls.

Maybe the dream had the answer to the problem!  Annie realized that Lazy Louie got paid the same whether he delivered ordinary or perfect brownies.  The judges couldn’t tell if the brownies were merely ordinary or perfect by tasting them, but anyone could come by and look at how many brownies had been sold at the end of the day.  What if Lily and Lazy Louie made an agreement based not on whether the brownies were perfect, but rather on how many were sold?!  Lilly sold the brownies for $3 each.  Suppose Louie got $1.50 for each brownie sold, rather than the same $30 no matter how many sold?  If Louie was suspicious that Lily was exaggerating, he could just come by and see how many brownies were left at the end of the day. 

Annie thought about it more.  It was a perfect solution.  Whenever Lazy Louie made perfect brownies, they would all be gone by the end of the day, and he would make a lot more money.  If he made ordinary brownies, maybe half the tray would sell, and he’d only make half the money.  Lazy Louie would have a really good reason to make sure his brownies were perfect.  And, even better, there would always be perfect brownies at Lilly’s!

The next day. Annie convinced her mother to go to visit Lilly at the bakery. “You just want to buy a cookie, don’t you?” said her mother.  “Well, I would like to buy a cookie, but I also want to explain an idea to Lily.”  Annie told Lily her idea and Lilly was so excited she gave Annie a big hug and a gift certificate good for a free birthday cake.  While they were standing there, Lilly called Lazy Louie to discuss the idea.  Lazy Louie picked up the phone after it rang twenty times, which is pretty typical for Lazy Louie.  He agreed to the idea right away.

After that day, whenever Annie visited Lilly’s bakery, she saw that the brownies always looked perfect, and most were sold by evening.  It always made her smile.  The only time she smiled more was when she ate her delicious, free birthday cake!