It happened that the doctor and the tramp bought pieces of land right across from each other.
They weren’t close friends, but they exchanged polite nods and kept an eye on each other’s progress as the construction began.
The doctor chose a clean, modern brick for his new house, and when the tramp saw how sturdy and stylish it looked, she decided to buy the exact same kind for her own build.
As the weeks went on, the tramp installed her windows and doors first.
The doctor noticed how well they suited the structure and how nicely they framed the front of her house, so he ordered the very same style for his.
Bit by bit, with each person borrowing ideas from the other, the two houses grew to look identical from the outside.
When everything was finally finished, the doctor took a moment to admire the coincidence and then casually asked the tramp what she thought the homes might be worth.
She looked them over with a thoughtful expression and said, “Yours is worth around 100k and mine is around 150k.”
The doctor blinked in confusion. “That doesn’t make any sense. We used the same materials, built everything almost exactly the same, and you think your house is worth much more than mine?”
She shrugged and replied, “Well, my neighbor is a doctor, and yours is a tramp!”
