Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/06/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]"SonC (Sonny Carter)" wrote: > > Patrick, > I think you'll find that managers of those thrift stores are not > dummies. This whole thing is, IMO, an example of the "windfall > legend." The person who first posted it, owned up to the fact that > he doesn't know the man who bought the camera, just that he is a > fireman. > > Check out snopes' take on the windfall legend, and you'll see the > amazing similarity. > http://www.snopes.com/luck/declare.htm > > The moral contradiction in the Leica story is similar to that where a > widow sells her dead soldier son's car for $200. As Snopes puts > it: "Deep down we're really nice people, but we're still not averse > to profiting from someone else's misfortune, even if in the process we > have to skin the mother of a dead war hero." > > Notice that you never hear stories like this directly from the person > who bought it? If you had the opportunity, what would you do? > > Kim seems to think she knows exactly what I would do if presented the > opportunity, but I doubt I'll ever find out, because having been in > literally thousands of thrift stores, pawn shops and garage sales, I > have seen far more over-priced things than underpriced. > > SonC > (who has donated cases of Peanut Butter to charity) > As far as human nature and human behavior goes I don't think the average person would buy a rare car from an old lady for $200 which they know is worth ten to a hundred times that. The average person would inform the old lady that the car is worth probably $20,000 but all he can afford at the moment would be $14,000. Would she wait for the proper 20 or take his 14? That's what i think the average person would do. Three out of every 100 men are ASPD. Anti socal personality disorder. In other words psychopaths. People who would slit their own mothers throat for a time and give you five cents change. One out of every hundred women. Stealing from old ladies is a lot to chew off even for minor local larcenists, shoplifters, pickpockets. People who lie a good part of the time and are one step ahead of a lot of people who are after them. No more cast iron pots at Goodwill. But great mens ties there for $3 which are worth $30 at least. And you cant BUY them at those widths anymore. Pick your width. Better then having them custom done buy an old lady with a priceless Singer (misstamped) Sewing Machine she'll leave to her daughter in law who never visits her. ... has her own sewing MACHINE anyway. A marvel of electrical and computer engineering. Mechanical engineering? a minor issue. Mark Rabiner Portland, Oregon USA http://www.rabinergroup.com Any body want to buy or help me restore a 1964 Renault Caravelle? http://www.renaultcaravelle.com/owner5.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html