On He Was a Baha'i & a Lousy Liar: Surprisingly successful despite the handicap of honesty
Uighur men bargaining over veggies, Kashgar Sunday Market, Kashgar, NW China. Uploaded on December 17, 2006 by EJ Waterhouse on flickr
I went to get my manager, a kind and generous man who was a good teacher and a lousy liar, and surprisingly successful in the car business despite the handicap of honesty.The tropical fish exporter sized him up immediately."You are from Iran.""Persian, yes.""But not Islamic.""No, I am Baha'i"The Israeli gave him a nod, satisfied.They settled in to an exchange of stories, laughter and the most agreeable conversation possible. Only...underneath it all...you could feel an age old dance, a negotiation that was working on levels I understood on a primal level, like an ancient part of my DNA responded to it, but my Western "civilized" middle class brain was not fully grasping.The car was sold. The tropical fish exporter happy. Both men exhilarated and exhausted, as if satisfied to have engaged in a form of combat that left them both richer.
Like he said, some people know how to bargain. -gw
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