Of All Things Wassail

The other day I was shopping at the local market. It's unique and healthy items have earned our patronage, unfortunately it has also earned the accolades of many other people. While waiting in an insanely long line, 25 minutes by my count, I started to think..."Is this fancy olive oil and hormone free corn fed angus beef that I have in my cart worth this kind of wait?" It only took a second before I determined that it didn't.
It also invoked a quirky yet accurate theory and formula that was devised by a close friend a few years ago while observing similar circumstances. It became known as the Wassail Factor.

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Simply put, the Wassail formula measures the true worth of a product, event, or trend by dividing its perceived or given value by its actual value. Like the warm cider from which it is named, this formula takes into account some of the unnecessary baggage associated with many popular things.

(The value that is assigned to X by public)/(The actual worth of X)= Wassail

For example, while we love our local market(Trader Joes) we do not feel that the value derived from shopping there is worth the wait and insane crowds. The wassail factor would most likely be greater then one, something not good. The same can be said about things like Cafe Rio, the latest successful sports franchise, or RadioHead. All of these things, by themselves, are great but they can begin to lose value once their popularity and associated baggage begins to weigh them down.
The ideal scenario involves finding something that brings great value but does not carry the weight of Wassail, one that would measure at 1 or less. This would allow you to enjoy the fruits of the product without having to deal with the unnecessary attention and crowds so commonly associated with products with a high wassail factor.