This One's For You, Judith
Claire Berlinski, Ed. ·
December 4, 2011 at 5:23pm
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Comments:
Re: This One's For You, Judith
Outstanding.
By coincidence, just today I was at the Shuk HaPishpishim in Jaffa -- a big flea market -- hunting for an antique mailbox for our new house. Half of me was hoping to find one and the other half was afraid that if I did, I'd never be Israeli enough to get the price down to where it belonged.
Aug '11
Re: This One's For You, Judith
Correct me if I'm wrong, but anymore, the only items whose prices are expected to be directly negotiated in the U.S. are used cars and salaries.
(¿Have home prices and union bargaining returned to the "directly negotiable" realm again?)
eBay still leaves many purchases made by Americans in the indirectly negotiable arena, but "Buy-it-now" still accounts for at least a quarter of domestic sales.
And how does it all jive with the ridiculous amounts Americans pay while tipping?
Re: This One's For You, Judith
In the shopping malls around here, there are these little carts stationed throughout that sell random products –hair irons, dead sea salt eye cream, remote controlled flying saucers, etc–all owned and manned by Israeli immigrants. I've learned to avoid the carts because the guys who run them are all very aggressive and pushy. They try to open up negotiations when you aren't even interested in the first place. Their tack is jarring to us cold, reserved coastal Americans who have very large personal space requirements.
Sep '10
Re: This One's For You, Judith
the only items whose prices are expected to be directly negotiated in the U.S. are used cars and salaries
and cash injections into green companies from the Obama administration.
Aug '10
Re: This One's For You, Judith
Expected, maybe. But as my Arabic grandmother will tell you, the real shopper is one who haggles down a price the merchant thought was unmovable in the first place.
Finding something on sale is not a "bargain". Finding something on sale, and convincing the cashier or manager to chop even more off the price, is a shopping story worth the telling.
Mar '11
Re: This One's For You, Judith
Half of me is laughing, the other half is insulted. I know, I know, it's a stereotype that's based in reality. How about, I'll accept this video if we get another one aimed at all the top-notch Israeli professors working in the US.
I'm with Judith, though. After nearly 20 years in Israel, I still have a hard time asking for the requisite "discount" when closing a purchase.
Mar '11
Re: This One's For You, Judith
It's jarring to an American ex-pat living over 20 years in Israel, too. It's changed a lot since the late '80s (when I first came to Israel), though - and I can't imagine that kind of aggressive, pushy behavior in any civilized store in Tel Aviv.
Edited on December 5, 2011 at 10:43amMar '11
Re: This One's For You, Judith
I'm amazed at the folks who come into my shop and try to negotiate price. They wouldn't do it at Wal-Mart or Wendy's or Walgreen's, but they try to negotiate with me. Or they ask, "What price are your books?"
Re: This One's For You, Judith
You can't make fun of them. God forbid they get insulted and leave, that will be the last straw for our universities.
Apr '11
Re: This One's For You, Judith
midnightgolfer:
And how does it all jive with the ridiculous amounts Americans pay while tipping? · Dec 4 at 12:07pm
Don't knock tipping. Waitresses and waiters need tips, in fact tips are calculated into their salary. So that many make less than minimum wadge and are expected to recoup the difference in tips. I bet most people will go on a screed about minimum wadge. Its not my point to debate that I generally don't like it. My point is restaurants are under charging for their services by 20%. This is essentially subsidized by generous tippers. Don't be an objectivist moocher.
Feb '11
Re: This One's For You, Judith
One afternoon, walking through the mall after leaving Target, with six children in tow, one in my arms, a huge box of Target diapers in the other, my two oldest carrying large bags, one of these guys halted the cavalcade. He was hawking some kind of nail polishing system. Being someone whose husband cuts her hair and whose idea of "having her nails done" means using an emery board once a week, I only laughed at him and told him there was no chance that I was at all interested. But he still got my kids to buy me something for my birthday. Chutzpah.
Aug '11
Re: This One's For You, Judith
Valiuth
midnightgolfer:
And how does it all jive with the ridiculous amounts Americans pay while tipping? · Dec 4 at 12:07pm
Don't knock tipping. · Dec 5 at 8:23am
I have no problem with Americans who want to give big tips. I just don't understand how it came to be something that even Spaniards notice is different about Americans. Why do Americans pay so much in tips, even when treated "poorly" by the staff? Why do American service industry employees put up with lousy pay, in lieu of tips? How did other cultures manage to get it more absorbed into the price on the menu? Why tip in some restaurants, and not others? Why do we put up with ridiculous markup on some things, and not others? (Personally, I'm glad that people pay what they do for SMS texting, or I would not likely have a job, and I'm sure restauranteurs are happy there's so much markup on beverages, in a similar fashion.)
It just fascinates me how different cultures vary (or not) on such things.