Ten Dollars For Advice

In Hawaii I went to buy a dumbbell. The owner gave me advice for an hour and a half, so I gave him $10.

He asked me, "Why are you giving me this?"

I said, "You gave me advice for so long."

Then Savyasachi told him, "It is an Indian custom. The first customer gives money to the shopkeeper."

Afterwards, I told Savyasachi that it is just the opposite: It is the shopkeeper who gives a good price to the first customer of the day for good luck. In India you can go into a store at three or four o'clock in the afternoon, and they still say you are the first customer.

-8 July 1985