My new Egyptian friend.

As regular readers of Ad Aged know, I am in Egypt right now. Tonight I met a man, an old man, named Ahmed.

Ahmed was once one of Egypt's greatest bakers--specializing in pita bread. He learned the craft from his father, watching his father bake from the time he was just three years old. He apprenticed to his father at the age of nine, and rolled his first solo pita when he was just 12. In time and after millions of pitas, Ahmed became the most famous pita baker in Cairo, and then, in all of Egypt. For 40 years he wore the crown as Egypt's finest.

But in his old age, Ahmed's pita, while still great, slowly began to deteriorate in quality. Perhaps some memory loss or a loss of strength in his hands that inhibited his ability to shape the dough. Ahmed's bread declined even further as the years went by. Finally, his pita was deemed inedible. His pita-baking license was revoked.

And that, my friends, is what you call 'the pita principle.'