Not that much pondering needed, as it turns out. A little autobiography because it amuses me. 100 words including title.
Why I Self-Identify as a Math-person, not a Lit-person
I was underemployed, living on a friend's charity, with a lot of time and few responsibilities when I came across a John Steinbeck collection and read Tortilla Flats. The characters scrounged free eggs and bought jugs of wine whenever they somehow came into money. Steinbeck always mentioned how much those jugs cost, and since I knew how much Hearty Burgundy went for at Safeway, I calculated the rate of inflation from Steinbeck to me. It has stuck with me ever since; cheap, red wine as an economic indicator.