"The North Face"

I think it depends on how much the 'merchant' was asking for this in the first place. If it was $20 then I think BM was right to haggle. I think the average income in that area is approx $4-5000 a year. $5 is quite a lot of money in that context. We'll never really know why he took the inner lining out. I've bought things from English markets before, and they had one product to show you then had another crapper product in a box that they actually give you.
This 'merchant' was selling knock off clothing, and I'm sure makes more money than the average person does. I know BM can come across as a bit of a _________ but I think he is right here.

 

Never heard of north face.

 

I think that you are spewing the attitude of a self righteous asshole. Why not just give him the $20 and go about your life? If it were $50 I can see haggling down a bit but what the fuck is $20 to you?

Funny how everyone who advocates the mentality of "giving for the greater good" in the context of government handouts, never wants to give to others.

 

guy was a small business person, not a beggar.

 

What do you get up and do every day for your living? I'm curious.

 

I advocate government wealth re-distribution. And I'm saying he sounds like an asshole.

Now, I personally wouldn't pay 20 bucks, because it would cost 15 or 20 at one of those american ripoff stores staffed by guys who only half-speak english, found in sleazy malls and swap meets..... and I won't buy shit from those guys. But ten bucks for a jacket? If you want the jacket, sounds like a deal, ehh? And if the guy ripped him off like that, it would seem that he was being somewhat forceful and douchey about his haggling, like he wanted it enough to really try and make a big deal over it, but not enough to.... spend money.

It's just that he obviously did violate the custom and the guy's expectation for a good deal, because of how it ended.

 

To me it's a "when in Rome do as the Romans do" situation. It would be one thing to haggle someone in his own country, but to go to Tibet where all of us know that population has been subjected to all kinds of unfair shit from overbearing gov't powers.. and as hippies or liberals I always assumed there was the whole empathic and compassionate element..

But anyway he goes to that land as some cocky European on a carefree (presumably EU welfare funded) trip trying to lowball a poor guy that probably has a family to feed and no guarantees to do so. And he is upset that $5 only got him the outer jacket because he gets cold in the Netherlands. And he talks shit about Americans?

You have to be fucking kidding me.

 

Haha do you actually realise how stupid and hypocritical you are making yourself look time and time again?
What a total pompous douchebag.

 

OMG guyz, he like just totally proved me wrong. Calling me a douchebag and posting a middle school meme pic. I'm just like, totally defeated right now.

 

deviate
What I'm saying is, it depends on how much the trader was asking for - which hasn't been made clear.
If the trader was asking for $10 why give the trader more than he was asking for? I presume these traders haggle all of the time. If you are saying: "when in Rome do as the Romans do" - how do you know haggling isn't what they do? How do you know the guy has a family to feed and no guarantees to do so? I understand that you believe (or wish to believe) that this trader has some god awful life, and is at the hands of some brutal regime - barely able to lift his head from the gutter - and has no pride left because it was drained from him etc etc etc, and that some brash European came swanning around, and treated this trader with contempt and superiority. But perhaps none of that is true. We just don't know. I'm taking this at face (pardon the pun) value: Traveler haggles with trader, trader slightly rips traveler off. The end.

Yes, BM can come across as a bit of a _______ .

Yes, all of us Europeans get yearly hand-outs from the E.U social fund to go traveling around poor countries to laugh and mock the locals.

 

I went all the way back through this thread because I was curious to find the origin of this argument.

So you understand other cultures because you know to never haggle for higher than 5 dollars when poor people in third world countries try to sell you something? Yes, clearly you are a student of the world.

 

You got it wrong. The world is Bird's student. :sunny:

 

http://www.topchinatravel.com/lhasa/lhasa-shopping.htm
Poor third world Lhasaian market trader says he's over it.

:biggrin:

 

He might be over it but we're not! :banghead:

 

I lived in Cambodia. People were poor, and haggling was the expectation, as was ripping off tourists. If you didn't haggle, you paid a lot more money to the stupid tourist tax.

I did a lot of good in the country, but paying the first price everybody said on everything wasn't one of them. That's why god made chumps.

 

Or So He Would Have Us Believe...



Cheers Glen.

 

:sunny:

 

That's fair enough.