November 30, 2011

How poverty salesmen differ country to country

If you're living in the Americas or Europe, and you need fake sunglasses or want to save money and buy a pirated CD, you probably go to the local street vendor. There, on a sheet on the sidewalk, he has displayed everything he sells.

However, if you want to buy a DVD, Ray Ban sunglasses, or such in Vietnam, you wait for the salesman to come to you. (Which, if you're in a big city, he certainly will do.) Then you choose from a wide selection of glasses or DVDs or whatever else they might be selling. He makes a bit of money, you get your cheap deal, and everyone's happy.