A Taste of Scarcity

There were only twenty servings of the grape steamed cake available, far fewer than the number of people in line—most were bound to leave empty-handed.

Once they sold out completely, a staff member squeezed through the crowd holding a megaphone and began apologizing sincerely to the long line of customers.

"I'm truly sorry, everyone. Today's grape steamed cakes are completely sold out. If that's w