Splitting Candy
"Garrett! Quit tormenting your sister!" yelled Myra Weltschmerz from across the kitchen as Garrett attempted to drop a fried onion ring in Lorelei's glass of milk. Stymied for the moment, Garrett retreated back into his chair. "I want both of you to eat your supper nicely," continued Myra sternly. "Your mother will be home in another hour, and I want to give her a good report about you."
"Why is Mom gone so much these days?" asked ten-year-old Garrett. "It seems like you're here for supper more than she is."
"I thought she told you, Garrett. She was laid off from her old job, and now she has to work part time. The hours change a lot. These past few weeks she's had to work through suppertime."
"That's OK," broke in eight-year-old Lorelei. "You're a better cook than she is."
Myra blushed slightly. "I'm sure your mom's a fine cook, Lorelei. She's just tired when she comes home." The children munched their onion rings in silence for a moment. Myra sat down with them.
"Mom said you were having trouble with your boyfriend," Garrett broke out suddenly. "Is it true?"
Myra stiffened and got up again to look in the refrigerator. "She told you that? Well, I guess it doesn't matter. Yes, Martin and I weren't doing so well for a while. But I think we're getting back together again."
"Did he dump you?" Lorelei asked, wide-eyed.
The question hit Myra like a body blow. "No. No... well, not exactly. We never formally broke up. But like I said, things are better now."
"I bet he'll dump you again," Garret speculated. "You'd better watch out."
"Garrett, it's none of your business!" Myra snapped. Then she paused, clearly shaken. Recovering after a moment, she said, "Let's change the subject. I brought a small bag of chocolates for the two of you to share for dessert. How does that sound?" To delighted squeals, Myra produced the bag. Looking inside, she said, "All right, I think there are eighteen in here. There are two different fillings --- caramel and strawberry. Nine of each, I think. I hope you like them!"
"Well, I'm older," declared Garrett. "I always eat more than Lorelei. So I should get more candy."
"No way!" cried his sister. "It should be equal. But I don't like caramel. Give them to Garrett."
"Forget it!" he shot back. "Caramel is OK, but I like strawberry, too! I want some of those! Anyway, I got a perfect paper in math today. I deserve a reward. Mom gives me rewards for perfect papers."
"I'll clean my room if you give me all caramels," Lorelei offered to Myra.
"That's not fair!" Garrett protested. "I have more math problems to do tonight. I won't have time to clean my room. Lorelei is only eight. She doesn't get homework."
"Wait a minute," Myra interrupted. "I brought these to make the two of you happy, not so you would fight. We're going to have to think about how to divide these."
- How should the candy be divided?
- Which type of resource allocation would be the "fairest?"
