The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.

-- G. K. Chesterton

Summer is here and Scott Gay , of Waynesboro, shares this insight into the modern economy when it comes to tourism.

It was a quiet day in a little Southern town. Nothing much was happening. The place looked deserted. Times were tough, and everybody was in debt.

Suddenly, a rich tourist shows up.

He enters the town's only hotel, lays a $100 bill on the reception counter as a sort of deposit, then goes to inspect the rooms upstairs to select one for a quiet visit.

The proprietor quickly takes the $100 bill and runs to pay his debt to the butcher.

The butcher takes the $100 bill and runs to pay his debt to the pig grower.

The pig grower takes the $100 bill and runs to pay his debt to the supplier of his feed.

The supplier at the feed store takes the $100 bill and runs to pay his loan to the bank.

The banker runs back to the hotel with the $100 bill and pays off a balance to the proprietor for some meeting rooms he'd rented the month before.

The proprietor thanks him and puts the $100 bill back on the counter.

Just then, the rich tourist comes down after inspecting the rooms.

He says things in the town are too quiet, and he thinks he'll head down the road.

He picks up the $100 bill and leaves town.

No one earned anything; however, everyone in town is now without debt and looks to the future with great optimism.

THE MORAL: I tell that story to remind you to spread the money around if you go on vacation this summer.

If you do, why not spend it on postcards? We're still trying to get one from every state, and we have about 35 to go, including Idaho, New Jersey and New Hampshire.

Just mail them to The Augusta Chronicle , P.O. Box 1928, Augusta, GA 30903-1928.

Sally and Bryan Simkins did. They sent greetings from Glacier National Park in Montana, which was "absolutely beautiful."

Donnie and Caroline Hooks , of North Augusta, send a card from Las Vegas.

John and Kathy from Aiken took a trip west to visit Los Angeles; San Francisco; Seattle; and Victoria, British Columbia.

TODAY'S JOKE: Here's a little one about tourists from Charlie Williams , who said he went to Alabama last week and spent more than an hour in a traffic jam caused by a cattle truck wreck.

It seems a famous football coach was on vacation with his family in Maine.

When they walked into a movie theater and sat down, the handful of people there applauded.

He said to himself, "I can't believe it. People recognize me all the way up here."

Then the man in front of him turned around and whispered, "Not really, but they won't start the movie unless we have 10 customers or more."