Empty Smiles vs Empty Pockets

I just spent three hundred dollars on a textbook
Three hundred
Dollars

And it's not even a real book
It's just pages
That you throw into a binder

So I had to go out and buy a damn binder too

"School's a scam."
A coworker tells me with a mouth full of cig
And I nod and tell her I know, I know

But then I went and dished out the three hundo

And, lord, it was painful
It was the tip money I'd been saving
Hours of toiling and smiling and saying,
"Have a good day!"

One day I want to tell someone to have a good day
And Mean it
From the bottom of my bitter, brittle heart
Not just to woo someone into throwing their change in the tip jar

So I spent three hundred dollars on a book
With a lump in my throat
And hands clenched in empty pockets
Because I'm going back to school