Walking up to a department store's fabric counter, a pretty girl asked, "I want to buy this material for a new dress. How much does it cost?" "Only one kiss per yard," replied the smirking male clerk. "That's fine," replied the girl. "I'll take ten yards." With expectation and anticipation written all over his face, the clerk hurriedly measured out and wrapped the cloth, then held it out teasingly, leaning forward to receive his "payment." The girl snapped up the package and pointed to a little old man standing beside her. "Grandpa will pay the bill," she smiled.

Recently a "Husband Shopping Center" opened in Dallas, where women could go to choose a husband from among many men. It was laid out with five floors, with the men increasing in positive attributes as you ascended up the floors. The only rule was once you opened the door to any floor, you must choose a man from that floor, and if you went up a floor, you couldn't go back down except to leave the place, never to return. A couple of girlfriends went to the place to find men. On the first floor the door had a sign saying, "These men have jobs and love kids." The women read the sign and said, "Well, that's better than not having jobs, or not loving kids, but I wonder what's further up?" so up they went. The second floor said, "These men have high-paying jobs, love kids, and are extremely good-looking." "Hmmm," said the girls. "But I wonder what's further up?" The third floor: "These men have high-paying jobs, are extremely good-looking, love kids and help with the housework." "Wow!" said the women. "Very tempting, BUT there's more further up!" and up they went. Fourth floor: "These men have high-paying jobs, love kids, are extremely good-looking, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak." "Oh, mercy! But just think what must be awaiting us further on!" So up to the fifth floor they went. The sign on that floor said, "This floor is empty and exists only to prove that women are impossible to please."

Anger is aroused when a person suffers a real or perceived injury. ... Envy, pride, and high material and status expectations make one particularly susceptible to anger since they lower the threshold for real or perceived injuries.

When asked what they regret most in the last six months, people tend to identify actions that didn't meet their expectations. But when asked about what they regret most when they look back on their lives as whole, people tend to identify failures to act. In the short run, we regret a bad educational choice, whereas in the long run, we regret a missed educational opportunity. In the short run, we regret a broken romance, whereas in the long run, we regret a missed romantic opportunity.

Moreover, when I recalled what dangers I had undergone on behalf of these people even in my earlier advocacy, I decided that the credit of my earlier service must be preserved with a new favor. Indeed, there is a general consensus that you undermine earlier benefits unless you compound them with additional ones, for however often people have been in debt to you, once you refuse them some one thing, they remember that thing alone that has been denied to them. [ancient testimony to the paradox of rising expectations]