“Hey, Dionysus, I forget, what did you curse that king with that one time?” “Who, Midas?  Here, let me show you.  See that guy over there?” Gordon Samson half heard this conversation as he passed by the patio of a cafe, not paying attention as he headed home after a long day at his job.  He felt something strike him in the back, but wrote it off.  The only time he figured out something was wrong was when his silver cigarette lighter turned to gold in his hands, including the fuel.  Smart enough to remember his Greek history class, Gordon verified his new power with a few tests.  A pebble from the ground, a discarded gum wrapper, a pair of shoes… Everything he touched with his bare hands turned to gold.

Fortunately for Gordon, Dionysus’ demonstration of his curse only grazed him, and so only his bare hands turned stuff to gold.  So he bought thick gloves, made sure he could still eat, and thought about his new ability.  Vaguely remembering his high school economics class, Gordon realized that simply creating and selling gold would destroy the economy.  And so he tried to think of what he could do to abuse this power.  And he eventually came up with an idea.  He could start making statues.