whole

i had breakfast with laura yesterday and we were at ihop and the bill came and we wanted to split the check but i had a card and she had cash. she only had a twenty and her meal was about $12 but she gave me the twenty anyway and told me to give her five back. i took out a ten and said "i only have a ten, but take it." she said no she only wanted a five. so i said "here take the ten or i'm gonna rip it in half, that's the only way i'm gonna give you five." so she calmly said, "okay rip it." if it were anybody else, i would have thought they were just calling my bluff, but not her. i knew she really meant it and she knew i really meant it- it wasn't a test. so i ripped the ten in half and gave her the left side. she said "i'm really glad you did that" and smiled. because splitting a check between good friends is never about the money, and she knows that.
now we both have worthless halves of a ripped ten in our wallets, but it's endlessly more valuable than the money it used to be. it's people like her who get it that remind me i'm not crazy. not crazy at all.