Sins Part I
I was being mischievous/unethical a couple of days ago and went to a small stall in Old City Jerusalem to buy some gifts for a certain someone. The proprietor, named Abdi was doing the typical Old City sales pitch - incredibly pushy while pretending not to be. It all goes downhill once you walk into the stall.
Generally, I am a bad bargainer and usually avoid buying anything in these stalls because I am being perpetually ripped off. This time however, Abdi’s wares were exactly what I had been searching for. We chatted it up for a while, and I asked him point blank: “Are you ripping me off?” Abdi stared at me aghast. “Of course not!”
Because I wanted to walk away from the store with the ‘Magic carpet’ (which I had yet to find anywhere else), but didn’t want to pay the 400 NIS (almost $110) that he quoted me (with discount) for the pipe and other items, I told him, as I was about to pay up, that I couldn’t find anything but $30 US in my wallet (which was true). He told me to come back the next day (as he was late for a soccer match in Hebron) with the additional $80. I told him that I would if I could find him (the Old City is notoriously confusing).
Later that same day, I decided that he had been a bit dishonest, as I had found the same items for a tenth of the price. So, I decided not to go back the following morning. The scary thing is, we bumped into each other on David St. (near the Church of the Holy Selpuchre) and he recognized me in 2 seconds flat. So, as it dawned on me how bad my luck was, we walked back to his shop and I said that “I was trying to find him” (which was kind of true, because I was considering returning the items), but always get “so lost in the Old City”, and would he “please walk me back to the hostel” so that we could chat about yesterday’s transaction. He was happy to help out, and started to chat with me as we walked. In a particularly busy section of the Via Delarosa, I lost him by dodging into an underground shop - waited him out for 10 minutes, and escaped with the help of a large sunhat that I purchased, into the Jewish quarter.
More sins, and good deeds that absolved these sins, to come in the near future.