Did you ever have to make up your mind?

My daughter asked me a random but intriguing question tonight in the form of a game. She said,

I'm going to name two things. Whichever one you choose, you have to give it up for life. The other you can have as much as you want. Coffee or Wine?

I approached this seriously. I was amazed at how difficult the decision was. I'm saying yes to one and letting the other one ride--FOREVER! Weighing my options involved considering substitutes. I chose wine meaning I give it up while keeping coffee. For me beer and liquor are better substitutes for wine than tea and other beverages are for coffee. This would no doubt involve changes. I'm glad it was only a hypothetical.

One thing interesting to me was how I chose the less regulated and more tolerated drug, caffeine, over the more frowned upon alcohol.

Also interesting is the fact that my reasoning guiding my decision is the same reason why the best restaurant choices are found in the biggest cities, why Lebron James makes more money than Russell Westbrook who in turn makes more money than the best school teacher in the country, and why Bayer aspirin costs more than generic aspirin--substitutability matters.