I think that the subject Characters could go on forever, because I surely have known a bunch of them. It seams that the construction trades produce more than their share of these people, and me having been involved with that following for so many years, has given me the opportunity to collect a generous sampling of gems that a lot of people would not have access to.
Another one that comes to mind was produced by a friend whom I had worked with, and trusted, for years. I always did think that Courtney could be, under favorable conditions, an extremely difficult person to out maneuver in a bargain seeking session. He was, however, honest and sincere in his convictions.
This all became a reality, one time, when Court was negotiating with a sales clerk, in a K-Mart Store, for a birthday present for his wife. The store had advertised a sale on a new brand of Food Mixers. Their sales pitch was that they would allow a very generous amount of money for your old mixer, on the purchase of one of these new wonder machines. Their sales pitch indicated that make, age , style or condition of the trade-in was of no consideration.
Court took one of Vi’s oldest table spoons and headed for the K-Mart. After considerable discussion with the sales person that assured Court that the terms of the sale were exactly as stated in the paper, he agreed to the deal and presented his “trade-in”. The clerk, naturally, balked on such a deal, saying, “we cannot accept that as a mixer”. Court retaliated by saying, “that is the only mixer that my wife has, and your ad just says mixer”.
The store manager was called, which had no effect on Court’s determination. It was finally decided that the ad did say mixer and did not qualify whether or not it was intended that it be any particular kind of a mixer, so Court paid the bill that showed a credit of $10.00 for a used mixer that was traded in.
The moral of this one is; Beware of Swedes bearing old tablespoons.