Every individual faces choices, both in their personal as well as
             professional life, virtually several times a day. Usually, decisions are
             made using past experience as well as new information. Yet, the fact
             remains that in each case, there is something that is lost in forgoing the
             available alternatives even if the choice made is believed to be in the
             larger interests of the individual. It is, therefore, not surprising that
             "economists define the opportunity cost' of any good or service as the
             value of all the other goods or services that we must give up in order to
             produce it." (King) Indeed, in a few cases, the choices available are so
             attractive that it is hard to arrive at a decision because each alternative
             I personally experienced a very similar situation recently when I was
             faced with a rather difficult career choice between choosing to accept a
             rather well-paid job in a reputed global fast food retail chain and
             obtaining a college education, with the aim of ultimately acquiring a MBA
             degree. Of course, I was highly conscious of the fact that the time, money,
             and effort invested in attaining the goal of a MBA degree would ultimately
             pay off since the degree would open the doors to a managerial career in top
             firms, especially if I managed to graduate from a reputed business college.
             Nevertheless, the choice I faced was not easy since the fast food company
             had outlined a career path that would lead to a managerial position in
             time. In the end, I decided to forgo the immediate opportunity on the
             rationale that an MBA degree would eventually fetch higher returns, besides
             Thus, the opportunity cost in this case was the guaranteed utility of
             a job in hand, representing immediate monetary benefits as well as the
             opportunity to eventually gain a management position. In fact, the lure of
             a management position really made th
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