The impact of flower packaging on their value is akin to the effect of wine aging on wine’s value.

What’s the most profitable way for a fresh flower to shine? By stepping onto a bigger stage. A flower in a farmers’ market, one in a mall, and one at an art exhibition all carry different values. Different environments, different audiences, different worths. So naturally, a flower’s strategy is to do everything it can—within its limited bloom—to package itself.

Romantic relationships are a kind of business partnership. A good partner is someone willing to pay the opportunity cost for the other and to honor the terms of cooperation.

Now, back to friends.

I’ve worked with my lawyer for many years; by all rights, we’re friends. Yet every time I call him, I still catch myself timing the conversation.
Because I know his rate is $1,600 per hour.
Even accounting for his costs, that’s still over $1,000 an hour.
He might waive the fee this time, but when you burn through his time, you’re literally burning his money. As a friend, is that appropriate?
Friends should still account for each other’s opportunity costs.
If you treat someone to a meal and they’re someone who values their time, you need to calculate how much you’re spending on them. They wouldn’t be dining out just for the food, right? Shouldn’t the value beyond the meal itself cover both sides’ time costs?
Otherwise, over time, you’ll end up alienating all your friends—because they’ll realize that eating with you is pure money-burning. After all, time is money.

But do parents and children have this kind of opportunity cost? No.
Every time their son forgets his lunch card, his books, his watch, or anything else at school, he makes a call and his parents happily drive off to deliver it.
To him, his parents’ hourly value equals zero.
Because no opportunity cost is paid, friends can choose to spend time with someone else. But a father—who else could he choose besides his son?
If he chose someone else, that person wouldn’t be his own flesh and blood.
See? Heaven already paid for it on his behalf.