Jew me up, lads!
What's going on with America? We have all the problems of an influx of immigrants from countries where "fixed price" isn't the norm, but they refuse to enrich our national life by making haggling an enjoyable pastime.
The backstory: I'm blogging from New York City, world melting pot, where I've gone for a business trip. The night before I left, I was in the local chain drugstore, and saw a pair of cheap, no-name ear-bud headphones, useful for listening to audio on my laptop without disturbing people in the seat next to me. The price was $5.99. Oh well, I though, don't need 'em, I have pair at home. Well, I couldn't find them but what the heck, I'm headed for New York, home of the immigrant-operated electronic shop, surely finding a pair shouldn't be too hard.
Well, I walk into an electronics shop off Broadway owned by a Member of the Tribe from the Holy Land, and what does do, but show me the same thing I saw in Rite Aid for $5.99, and he was offering $25! OK, so I counter offer, but clumsily, I said they shouldn't be more than $10. (should have started at $5.) He came down to $18. No way. Next, off to an establishment owned by a gentleman from the Indian subcontinent, he started at $20. I counteroffered at $5, and he came down to $15. Still not good enough. True, they pay Manhattan rents, and they don't have the economy of scale that the chains have, but given how cheap these products are, $10 would be a fair price. But after the guy offered his $15, he just more or less ignored me, and it was obviously "take it or leave it." So I left. I finally found a pair for $10 at an Office Depot.
But I know from my experience in the Mid East andMexico, that true haggling cultures, the experience of haggling is considered a sport and game, not just a way to allocate prices. I should have enjoyed a long sesson of verbal jousting with the Israeli fellow, perhpas even have him attempt to gain my sympathy over his relatives being evicted from Gaza. The Indian fellow might at least have told me how much he, too, hates Arabs and Muslims to attemot to gain my sympathy. At the very least, both should have sent out for tea and coffee while they regaled me with hard luck stories of how hard it is to make a living in Broadway's golden Paved streets. The Israeli might have bitched about the high price of Day School tuition, an, in the end, we might have become friends, even if I didn't buy either of their overpriced headphones.
In America, the influx of immigrants from the "haggling lands" is resulting in the worst of both worlds in our retail culture -- The soulless chain store devoted to maximizing the short-term bottom line, combined with the frustration of haggling. This will not lead to anything good.
The backstory: I'm blogging from New York City, world melting pot, where I've gone for a business trip. The night before I left, I was in the local chain drugstore, and saw a pair of cheap, no-name ear-bud headphones, useful for listening to audio on my laptop without disturbing people in the seat next to me. The price was $5.99. Oh well, I though, don't need 'em, I have pair at home. Well, I couldn't find them but what the heck, I'm headed for New York, home of the immigrant-operated electronic shop, surely finding a pair shouldn't be too hard.
Well, I walk into an electronics shop off Broadway owned by a Member of the Tribe from the Holy Land, and what does do, but show me the same thing I saw in Rite Aid for $5.99, and he was offering $25! OK, so I counter offer, but clumsily, I said they shouldn't be more than $10. (should have started at $5.) He came down to $18. No way. Next, off to an establishment owned by a gentleman from the Indian subcontinent, he started at $20. I counteroffered at $5, and he came down to $15. Still not good enough. True, they pay Manhattan rents, and they don't have the economy of scale that the chains have, but given how cheap these products are, $10 would be a fair price. But after the guy offered his $15, he just more or less ignored me, and it was obviously "take it or leave it." So I left. I finally found a pair for $10 at an Office Depot.
But I know from my experience in the Mid East andMexico, that true haggling cultures, the experience of haggling is considered a sport and game, not just a way to allocate prices. I should have enjoyed a long sesson of verbal jousting with the Israeli fellow, perhpas even have him attempt to gain my sympathy over his relatives being evicted from Gaza. The Indian fellow might at least have told me how much he, too, hates Arabs and Muslims to attemot to gain my sympathy. At the very least, both should have sent out for tea and coffee while they regaled me with hard luck stories of how hard it is to make a living in Broadway's golden Paved streets. The Israeli might have bitched about the high price of Day School tuition, an, in the end, we might have become friends, even if I didn't buy either of their overpriced headphones.
In America, the influx of immigrants from the "haggling lands" is resulting in the worst of both worlds in our retail culture -- The soulless chain store devoted to maximizing the short-term bottom line, combined with the frustration of haggling. This will not lead to anything good.
posted by Conservative Apikoris at 10:21 PM
2 Comments:
Do you think it wise to use Jew as a verb in public? Admittedly, it's very evocative, but I'd like to think that its usage is declining, perhaps to the point of obsolescence, so why promote it any further?
Moreover, I don't believe that being Jewish gives you license to use slurs against your own people. Kinda like blacks who spout the n-word amongst themselves ad nauseum.
But in the spirit of full disclosure, I must admit to having called individual co-religionists "mockies" on occasion.
Uncle Moishy,
I've nver ever heard the term "Mockies" before? What is its origin?
As for me, I'm proud of my Jewish heritiage, even if my skill at price shaving is limited due to my Anglo culteral patterning.
I should have you know that I own a small canoe whose name is "Never Pay Retail." (Hey, it was a factory second, $1100 MRSP, I got it for $750. Theonly problem with it were a few scratches, which got some company the first time I attempted to run the rapids.) Is this an ethnic slur on the Jewish people?
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