Years ago, people rented phones from the local telephone company and had the option of paying a one-time fee to have a color model. One customer, who had had his phone for some time, forgot how this worked. When I was disconnecting his service, he objected to my leaving with his phone. "That's mine," he said angrily. "I paid for it." "No, sir, you paid for the color, not the phone," I explained. "Okay, take the phone," he said calmly, "but leave the color."

　　几年前，人们从当地的电话公司租用电话时只要选择额外一次性地付一点钱就能拿到一个彩色的电话机。 有一名顾客在电话用了一些日子后忘记了这个规则。 当我去中断他的电话服务时，他不让我把电话机带走。“那是我的电话机”，他生气地说，“我付了钱的。”“不对 ，先生，你付的是颜色的钱，不是电话的钱，”我给他解释。 “那好，把电话拿走吧，”他平静地说，“但颜色得留下”。