Three partners in a professional carpet cleaning business decided to rent a piece of cleaning equipment to perform a job they are doing.  The three partners went to their local supply house to rent the equipment for three days.  The owner of the business said, “If you pay me cash, I’ll rent the equipment for $30.00 a day.”

On the first day, the three partners each handed the owner $10.00 for a total of the $30.00 rental fee.

On the second day, the partners made the same transaction to pay the $30.00 rental fee.

On the third day, each partner only had a $10.00 bill in each of their pockets.  Each partner handed the owner their $10.00 bill for a total of $30.00.

The owner thanked the three partners and said, “To show you how much I appreciate your business, I’m going to give you a discount today.”  The owner reached into his cash drawer and gave the partners five $1.00 bills.  Each partner took $1.00 and put it in their pockets.  The partners thanked the owner for the discount and noticed a charity jar for cancer research on the counter; so, they put the remaining two $1.00 bills into the jar.

As the three partners were walking out to their truck, the first partner said, “Hey, we each have a dollar in our pocket… why not stop for a cup of coffee before work.”  The second parnter said, “Since it only cost us each $9.00 and we donated $2.00, I feel good, so let’s stop at Betty’s Cafe.”  The third partner stated, “Hey, wait a minute.  If we each paid $9.00, that is $27.00; if we donated $2.00, that only equals $29.00.  So where is the other dollar”?