Pretzels

A little old lady sold pretzels on a street corner for 25 cents each.

Every day, a young man would leave his office building at lunch time and, as he passed her pretzel stand, he would leave her a quarter, but would never take a pretzel.

This went on for more than five years. The two of them never spoke.

Then one day, the man passed the pretzel stand and left his quarter as usual. A few seconds later, he heard footsteps behind him.

He turned. It was the pretzel woman, who spoke to him for the first time. “Sir, I appreciate your business. You are a good customer, but I have to tell you that the pretzel price has increased to 35 cents.”