The Receipt for the Donut

"I bought a donut and they gave me a receipt for the donut. I don't need a receipt for the donut—I'll just give you the money and you give me the donut. End of transaction. We don't need to bring ink and paper into this."

"I can't imagine a scenario where I would have to prove that I bought a donut. Some skeptical friend? 'Don't even act like I didn't get that donut! I got the documentation right here!'"

The donut receipt joke became one of his most quoted bits, which is remarkable given that it's about almost nothing. That's the Hedberg paradox: the less significant the observation, the more universally it resonates. Everyone has gotten a receipt they didn't need. Nobody thought about it until Mitch did.