Post #2010755
2026-03-26 03:37 UTC
The rug shop is still there. The rug merchant is still there, waiting for the next customer like you to walk in and be dazzled enough by his wares that you will fork over enough money to make the next couple of payments on his new Toyota Camry. But you don’t know that. You don’t know that he’s even got a Toyota Camry, because all you know is that there is a rug shop in the market and a guy running it whom you bought a rug from.
Replies (1)
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@orrickle@sfba.social 2026-03-26 03:37
I once sat on a plane from Stockholm to New York with two guys from Connecticut who were returning home from making deals to buy super-high-quality steel that was made in Sweden. They told me that their buying trip had been a big success, because they had spent the previous six months looking into the life and background of every man who ran the companies they were buying from. About one man, for example, they had discovered he was into S&M and liked being on the receiving end. With another guy, they discovered he had a gambling problem and was in debt. Badly. Neither guy knew what these two men from the U.S. knew about them. I hardly need tell you how well their negotiations for super-hard steel went.