Tie Salesman (x-post /r/ShaggyDogStories) A while back, I was working downtown as a handmade tie salesman trying to make a quick buck using a skill I'd learned. Though this was really just a side venture while I tried to find a real job, I was making a decent bit of coin. Additionally, people were recommending me as a source for their neck apparel. One day, this fellow comes up to me and asks whether I'd be willing to teach him the art of tie-making. I tell him I'd be glad to under the condition that, in addition to paying me a small fee, he purchases one of my ties. He, owning none of the sort, is glad to, so I show him the basics and give him a lesson on the various materials required for making a nice tie. He leaves about an hour before I wrap up, and with his business and fee it was one of the most successful days I had. I had thought he was just curious, but the next day he came back for another lesson. Though the fee he had paid me yesterday was enough, I still needed him to buy another tie from me so I didn't have an overstock. He did, although he was somewhat apprehensive (he didn't really need many ties in his current line of work as a fast-food cashier). I gave him another lesson and actually put him at the loom (making ties is fairly simple business), and he turned out a good tie on his second try, which I gave to him as a token of goodwill. He thanked me and told me he'd be back again early the next day. He arrived when he said he would, ready and eager for another lesson. I told him he needed to buy another tie before I could teach him again, and this time he was skeptical. ""Why should I purchase another?"" he whined, ""I already have three!"" Grinning, I explained my reasoning. ""Task me no lessons, and I'll sell you no ties.""