The bargain buy

The wife made no comment as I paid for the statue. My deal, surely, was better than hers.

The place where we have taken residence is full of shopping malls, with new ones mushrooming almost every month. There are numerous sponsored exhibitions and discount sales in these joints.

Recently we visited an exhibition-cum-sale of Chinese ceramics. There was an awe-inspiring display of Oriental art spread over hundreds of square feet. Small items like chopsticks to huge vases and fountains reaching over ten feet in height, were on sale. The artefacts had intricately painted designs in exquisite colours. A number of Chinese young men and women had been employed to sell the wares. None of them spoke a language other than their native tongue.

My wife showed interest in a wind chime by picking it up and examining it. Promptly, a dainty girl appeared beaming a sweet smile, took out a calculator, punched the sale price of the item and showed it to the wife. The latter found it on the higher side and conveyed it through a frown. The sales girl took the calculator back and punched a new price, some 15 per cent lower than earlier. The wife re-creased her forehead to elicit another 10 per cent reduction. A few minutes of these pantomimes clinched the sale. I enjoyed the theatrics and decided to try them myself.  

I picked up a Buddha at the next stand. A smartly dressed young man was soon at hand. He punched the price on the calculator and gave it to me. I raised my eyebrows as high as I could, indicating the wide difference between what he was quoting and what I was willing to pay. He then punched a new figure. I repeated my eyebrow action. A new price was quoted but I remained unconvinced and conveyed it facially. I was thoroughly enjoying the wordless bargaining. Finally, he handed me the calculator and, through gestures, asked me to indicate my price. Somewhat flippantly, I typed a price that was 40 per cent of what he had originally quoted. On seeing this, he let out a ‘pfuh’ that conveyed a mix of disagreement and disbelief. I shrugged my shoulders and walked away. A man enjoys shopping when he does not actually buy anything.

However, before I could exit, I felt a tug at my sleeve. I turned to see the same man holding out the Buddha that I had eyed. The wife made no comment as I paid for it. I was sure my deal was better than hers.

On our way back, we stopped at a friend’s house to share the tale of our bargain buy. Knowing their tastes, I expected them to rush to the mall and reap the discount benefit. Instead, they burst out laughing. Still laughing, the man went inside and came out with an identical Buddha statue that they too had bought from the same venue, at half the price I paid. En route home, the wife wryly remarked that I had a lot to learn in kinesics.