A guy walks into an Old West hotel. The stagecoach on which he was riding broke a wheel and it won't be fixed until the next day... So he pays $10 for a room.
The hotel owner owes $10 dollars to the local laundry, so as soon as his new client is situated in his room, he takes the $10 and runs over to the laundry in town and pays his $10 laundry bill.
The owner of the laundry owes $10 to the local supply store, so he runs over to the supply store and pays off his $10 bill.
The owner of the supply store then takes the $10 and goes to the local restaurant where he owes $10 and pays them off.
The owner of the restaurant goes over to the butcher and pays off his $10 bill with the butcher.
The butcher takes the $10 and runs over to the hotel and pays off his $10 bill.
Meanwhile, the guy who rented the room comes downstairs. He's just received a message that the rear wheel on the stagecoach has been fixed and he will not be spending the night in the hotel as he had planned.
The owner of the hotel, always the gracious proprietor, removes the very same $10 bill that has made the rounds of the town and hands it back to the traveler, and then promptly rents the room to another traveler, filling up the last vacancy.
The traveler leaves with his original $10 bill.
Nobody is out any money... and yet $50 in debt has been extinguished.
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