An eBay saavy friend of mine once told me that the Chinese are willing to sell anything on eBay, "even their mothers", if the price is right.
My response to that is that the Lebanese are just as industrious and entrepreneurial in this regard as any other people. The difference between the Chinese and the Lebanese, however, is that the Chinese will actually follow through with the sale, or at least, you'll get what you paid for. The Lebanese merchant, on the other hand, will try every trick in the book to outbid, outsmart, outwit and outdo the customer such that he comes up on top and still manages to convince the customer of the great bargain he has made.
Case in point: Canned Lebanese Air, or Hawa Lebnan. Rasha Najjar, the kooky lady that came up with the idea, asserts that this is not a marketing ploy, but rather a very nationalist initiative. As blogger Tri-Klop reminds us, however, I respond rather fittingly to Mrs. Najjar : killi hawa.
(Sorry, this last bit will only make sense to people who speak Lebanese Arabic)
0 comments:
Post a Comment