A few days ago, a friend of mine took his wife and child to the movies in his newly purchased car. After parking at the entrance of the cinema, the family happily entered the screening hall.
However, when the movie ended and they walked out of the cinema, the smiles on their faces instantly froze. Their car was completely surrounded by a dense cluster of other vehicles, making it impossible to drive out. In the chilly spring breeze, the family waited helplessly for a while. As the child fell asleep, the couple carried the child back to the cinema ticket hall to escape the wind.
After a long wait of over an hour, a car owner finally emerged from a nearby restaurant and drove away.
The next day, my friend called to tell me he was planning to sell the car. I advised him, "Selling it now would only fetch the used car price. You'd be taking a huge loss!"
He replied, "Not selling it is the real loss. I bought the car to make travel convenient and improve our quality of life, not to create frustration. Parking is difficult, and we spend more time stuck in traffic than actually driving. Since the small town isn't big, an electric scooter is more convenient, and a bicycle is more eco-friendly."
At that moment, my friend's decision gave me a profound shock. Between gain and loss, often what we lose is actually a gain.