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OK, so: last week I was on a belated honeymoon (thank you for the good wishes 
) in Istanbul, in Turkey.
My wife and I went to all the tourist spots - including the Grand Bazaar. Now, it is to be known that people there are EXPECTED to haggle. No, honestly, Turkish people told us so. And all the shopkeepers in the Bazaar (which is HUGE and crammed with tiny shops trying to compete with each other) were really happy to "play along" with us.
Only one quite major suckage happened, in a day in which my wife had decided to stay in the hotel for the morning as she was not feeling too well and I had gone to the Bazaar to buy some last things (basically, apple tea - which is amazing there).
I am approached by a shopkeeper (that is what they do, you don't approach them, they approach you) trying to sell me lokum, what we usually call Turkish Delight. Now, I had already bought several boxes of it and I didn't want to buy more, and I made it clear with him. Also, I didn't have much cash - about 50TL (25€uro). He kept insisting that his offers are better than the others' and I needed to listen, even though I had made clear that I didn't want to buy and that I was not trying to haggle - I was actually not interested. He put a big box in my hands quoting a price over 3 times the one I paid in a supermarket (for the very same box), I insisted that I was not interested. He PHISICALLY blocked my way when I tried to walk away (I am a big man, but he is also quite big - and I had no intention to push him away or anything, me being in a foreign country and all) and kept insisting, piling a couple more boxes in my hands and making "an offer I can't refuse". I, of course, did - I was REALLY not interested. I think I made this VERY clear more than once.
When he (finally) realised it, the salesman/shopkeeper started being REALLY abusive, as in "Get the **** out of here, **** off, you are a bad person, you are here to steal my time", things like that.
For once I was quick enough to reply: "You stopped me, you didn't allow me to leave, I told you I was not interested; you **** off and be ashamed, I never met anybody so bad in this country, you are the worst Turkish person I met. You are worth 1 Lira", which I proceeded to hand him. 1 Lira is worth 0.50€, about 0.65$.
Well, I shut him up.
I was mean - but he called for it, I think.
) in Istanbul, in Turkey.My wife and I went to all the tourist spots - including the Grand Bazaar. Now, it is to be known that people there are EXPECTED to haggle. No, honestly, Turkish people told us so. And all the shopkeepers in the Bazaar (which is HUGE and crammed with tiny shops trying to compete with each other) were really happy to "play along" with us.
Only one quite major suckage happened, in a day in which my wife had decided to stay in the hotel for the morning as she was not feeling too well and I had gone to the Bazaar to buy some last things (basically, apple tea - which is amazing there).
I am approached by a shopkeeper (that is what they do, you don't approach them, they approach you) trying to sell me lokum, what we usually call Turkish Delight. Now, I had already bought several boxes of it and I didn't want to buy more, and I made it clear with him. Also, I didn't have much cash - about 50TL (25€uro). He kept insisting that his offers are better than the others' and I needed to listen, even though I had made clear that I didn't want to buy and that I was not trying to haggle - I was actually not interested. He put a big box in my hands quoting a price over 3 times the one I paid in a supermarket (for the very same box), I insisted that I was not interested. He PHISICALLY blocked my way when I tried to walk away (I am a big man, but he is also quite big - and I had no intention to push him away or anything, me being in a foreign country and all) and kept insisting, piling a couple more boxes in my hands and making "an offer I can't refuse". I, of course, did - I was REALLY not interested. I think I made this VERY clear more than once.
When he (finally) realised it, the salesman/shopkeeper started being REALLY abusive, as in "Get the **** out of here, **** off, you are a bad person, you are here to steal my time", things like that.
For once I was quick enough to reply: "You stopped me, you didn't allow me to leave, I told you I was not interested; you **** off and be ashamed, I never met anybody so bad in this country, you are the worst Turkish person I met. You are worth 1 Lira", which I proceeded to hand him. 1 Lira is worth 0.50€, about 0.65$.
Well, I shut him up.
I was mean - but he called for it, I think.
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