I believe that I was either in the fifth or sixth grade, when Grandpa and Grandma Greengo invited me and Wade to join them on a trip to California. While there, we camped at Dohinni Beach. One day, grandpa and grandma decided that they wanted to go to Tijuana so that grandpa could try to find a saddle for one of his horses, a new purse for grandma, and a stiletto knife for Uncle Gary. Wade and I were excited because we would get to spend some of our hard earned paper route money on something cool. After crossing the border, Grandpa Greengo gave me and Wade some sound advice about negotiating. He told us not to pay attention to the price tag on anything in Tijuana. He also said that we needed to decide how much we were willing to pay for something and then offer the seller less. “Be willing to walk away, if the seller won’t give you the right price,” grandpa counseled.
At the beginning of our shopping spree, I watched grandpa talk to the sellers of various goods. We walked into one shop, and grandpa asked to see the stiletto knives. The merchant asked grandpa if he wanted to see a particular knife, and then grandpa pointed to a knife under the glass counter. The merchant pulled out the stiletto (a stiletto knife has a button on the side that if pushed causes the blade to pop out of the top of the handle) and handed it to grandpa. As grandpa examined the knife, he decided to push the button and the blade only came part way out of the knife. The merchant looked embarrassed as grandpa lowered his eyebrows and said, “This knife is broken”. The merchant took the knife from grandpa’s hand and said, “I’m so sorry, I thought we fix this one. Here try dis one,” and he tried to give grandpa a different knife. To this grandpa replied, “No thanks!” and walked out of the store.
As we went thru the various shops, I had decided that I really wanted a bull whip. Grandpa asked me how much I wanted to pay for one. I said, “I don’t know…$15.” To this grandpa replied, “You don’t want to pay $15. A bull whip is only worth $5. Find someone that will sell you one for $5.” Sounded great to me, so when we went into the next store, I started looking at the bullwhips that were hanging on a rack. I asked the merchant how much he wanted for the bullwhip, and he said, “Twenty fi dollars.” I rolled my eyes, and kind of looked around with an expression of disbelief. I then said, “I can’t pay you twenty five dollars, I only have five dollars.” This time the merchant looked at me in disbelief and said, “I no sell to you for fi dollars. Dis is a great whip of fine ledder.” The merchant then looked at Grandpa Greengo and said, “Granpa why don’t you buy whip for liddle boy. He no have enough muney.” To this grandpa replied, “Oh no, he wants to buys this whip all by himself. To this the merchant replied, “OK I sell you the whip for fiteen dollars.” I again looked up at the merchant and said, “I only have five.” The merchant then said, “OK I sell to you for ten dollar.” To this grandpa looked disgusted and said, “Come one Cody lets go. We will buy you a whip from someone else.” We then started to walk out of the store. Just before we got out of the store, the merchant yelled, “OK, OK I sell to you for fi dollar.” I was so excited that I quickly walked back into the store with grandpa ready to buy my whip. Suddenly I realized that in order to pay the merchant, I would have to pull the stack of paper route money out of my pocket, and I was afraid that he (the merchant) would see that I had a lot more than five dollars. So, I quickly turned my back on him, pulled the money out of my pocket, and retrieved a five dollar bill (I’m sure that the merchant knew what I was doing). I paid for my bull whip and excitedly continued my shopping, knowing that I had just negotiated a great deal.
Later on, grandpa was trying to buy a leather purse for grandma, and he was not going to pay more than $9. I remember at one point, the merchant got so upset with grandpa that he turned to grandma and said, “Grama, why don’t you take gringo home and come back and do some shopping wit da liddle boys.” At hearing this, my jaw must have dropped to the floor. I wondered to myself, “How does he know Grandpa Greengo’s name?”
Last but not least, Wade decided that he wanted to by a cool spoon. We all went into a shop, and Wade picked out a sterling silver spoon. He asked the merchant how much the spoon was, and the man replied, “Twenty fi”. To this Wade replied, “Nope, I will only give you ten.” The man then looked at him and said, “OK I sell for twenty.” To this Wade offered fifteen. Finally the merchant said, “OK fiteen”. Wade reached down in his pocket and pulled out fifteen cents, and put it on the counter. The merchant looked disgusted and pushed the money away, and again said, “No fiteen”. Wade pushed the money back towards the merchants and said, “That is fifteen. See a nickel and a dime.” When grandma saw what was going on, she explained to Wade that the merchant wanted fifteen dollars not fifteen cents. To this Wade said something like, “Fifteen dollars? I’m not paying fifteen dollars for a little spoon!” and we all walked out of the store.
The trip to California was awesome, but my favorite part was shopping in Tijuana.
At the beginning of our shopping spree, I watched grandpa talk to the sellers of various goods. We walked into one shop, and grandpa asked to see the stiletto knives. The merchant asked grandpa if he wanted to see a particular knife, and then grandpa pointed to a knife under the glass counter. The merchant pulled out the stiletto (a stiletto knife has a button on the side that if pushed causes the blade to pop out of the top of the handle) and handed it to grandpa. As grandpa examined the knife, he decided to push the button and the blade only came part way out of the knife. The merchant looked embarrassed as grandpa lowered his eyebrows and said, “This knife is broken”. The merchant took the knife from grandpa’s hand and said, “I’m so sorry, I thought we fix this one. Here try dis one,” and he tried to give grandpa a different knife. To this grandpa replied, “No thanks!” and walked out of the store.
As we went thru the various shops, I had decided that I really wanted a bull whip. Grandpa asked me how much I wanted to pay for one. I said, “I don’t know…$15.” To this grandpa replied, “You don’t want to pay $15. A bull whip is only worth $5. Find someone that will sell you one for $5.” Sounded great to me, so when we went into the next store, I started looking at the bullwhips that were hanging on a rack. I asked the merchant how much he wanted for the bullwhip, and he said, “Twenty fi dollars.” I rolled my eyes, and kind of looked around with an expression of disbelief. I then said, “I can’t pay you twenty five dollars, I only have five dollars.” This time the merchant looked at me in disbelief and said, “I no sell to you for fi dollars. Dis is a great whip of fine ledder.” The merchant then looked at Grandpa Greengo and said, “Granpa why don’t you buy whip for liddle boy. He no have enough muney.” To this grandpa replied, “Oh no, he wants to buys this whip all by himself. To this the merchant replied, “OK I sell you the whip for fiteen dollars.” I again looked up at the merchant and said, “I only have five.” The merchant then said, “OK I sell to you for ten dollar.” To this grandpa looked disgusted and said, “Come one Cody lets go. We will buy you a whip from someone else.” We then started to walk out of the store. Just before we got out of the store, the merchant yelled, “OK, OK I sell to you for fi dollar.” I was so excited that I quickly walked back into the store with grandpa ready to buy my whip. Suddenly I realized that in order to pay the merchant, I would have to pull the stack of paper route money out of my pocket, and I was afraid that he (the merchant) would see that I had a lot more than five dollars. So, I quickly turned my back on him, pulled the money out of my pocket, and retrieved a five dollar bill (I’m sure that the merchant knew what I was doing). I paid for my bull whip and excitedly continued my shopping, knowing that I had just negotiated a great deal.
Later on, grandpa was trying to buy a leather purse for grandma, and he was not going to pay more than $9. I remember at one point, the merchant got so upset with grandpa that he turned to grandma and said, “Grama, why don’t you take gringo home and come back and do some shopping wit da liddle boys.” At hearing this, my jaw must have dropped to the floor. I wondered to myself, “How does he know Grandpa Greengo’s name?”
Last but not least, Wade decided that he wanted to by a cool spoon. We all went into a shop, and Wade picked out a sterling silver spoon. He asked the merchant how much the spoon was, and the man replied, “Twenty fi”. To this Wade replied, “Nope, I will only give you ten.” The man then looked at him and said, “OK I sell for twenty.” To this Wade offered fifteen. Finally the merchant said, “OK fiteen”. Wade reached down in his pocket and pulled out fifteen cents, and put it on the counter. The merchant looked disgusted and pushed the money away, and again said, “No fiteen”. Wade pushed the money back towards the merchants and said, “That is fifteen. See a nickel and a dime.” When grandma saw what was going on, she explained to Wade that the merchant wanted fifteen dollars not fifteen cents. To this Wade said something like, “Fifteen dollars? I’m not paying fifteen dollars for a little spoon!” and we all walked out of the store.
The trip to California was awesome, but my favorite part was shopping in Tijuana.
1 comment:
I love this! Mom and Dad took us three little girls when I was about 9 or 10 and it went about the same! I came away with a sweet white leather jacket with the longest cowboy fringe you've ever seen - all for like $40! I was so proud!
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