It is called irony, you might familiarize yourself with the concept as it comes up quite a bit on this site.
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Argument in store over used bass
- Thread starter hopsbb
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It is called irony, you might familiarize yourself with the concept as it comes up quite a bit on this site.
You're not the only one; I'm with him too. Given the amount of time and distance OP was away from the bass, the second guy was clearly being bit of a jerk. By announcing "$89 oh this is coming home with me.", I believe he knew what he was doing and was passively-aggressivly saying 'What you gonna do about it?' The OP was just asserting himself in that situation. The world is full of people who will walk all over you if you let them.Thank God, I'm not the only one...
I have had people pick up a bass I was evaluating if I set it down in order to grab another bass nearby for comparison, but the exchange is always polite. It's not unreasonable for someone to want to A/B a pair of basses, and it's common music store courtesy to set one instrument down when navigating the racks for another so as not to ding anything. It's a music store, not a school yard, so don't go pulling a "Finder's Keeper's" attitude.
-Alan
See? Now you're doing irony, too. Not that difficult.
Some people are irony-challenged, but context can provide a big clue to ironic intent.
For instance, suggesting that the two men squabbling like housewives over a $90 bass would have
reached a more equitable solution by killing one another with handguns -- this is a rather absurd suggestion,
and thus probably intended as an ironic, rather than an ad hominem attack on FunkyMcNasty's character
and a challenge to his right to bear arms.
I would close by suggesting the OP and his nemesis battle it out with handbags at dawn, but I don't want to stand guilty
of a hate crime - or further confuse the contributors to this thread.
Forget all the weardos... you are testing and instument and you need to take your time, somebody come along and try to get something I´m testing? mate, you are in big shait, well you need big balls to do that, but it doesn´t mean you´ll walk away with them on your trousers.
Because if you see an instrument plugged in and a guy next to it (despite of he´s not actually touching it) the very least you can do is asking.
Hopsbb:
here my 2 cents:
(And this coming from someone who admittedly doesn't have have the thickest of skins, and typically gets fired up about the idiocies, bad behavior, bad manners, sense of undue entitlement, lack of empathy, hypocrisy, etc I see in our society and all round me):
- *** caveat: that the assumption (benefit of the doubt to you) is that everything you described is accurate and true ***
- the other shopper was rude; I would have never insisted on holding on to merchandise if someone else in the store came and said to me they had it first
- on the other hand, until you had actually picked up the bass and either given it to a sales person or taken it to the counter to put it on hold or pay for it, the merchandise can be assumed to be "available"
- while the rules of common courtesy, basic manners learned at home, and common sense would point to people being considerate of other's personal space and defer if informed someone else had the merchandise first, "common sense is not always common" - so nothing really says it was your "right" to claim the bass
- the sales person should have handled it a lot better: actually gotten the manager involved, and make efforts to please both customers, keeping both sides happy, making more sales and eventually (not a guarantee, but possibly) having won 2 more faithful customers by the conciliatory attitude
- sales people nowadays (not all, but increasingly so) are simply not trained, do not care, and do not have common sense to handle things professionally, so your experience is sadly not unique, and not surprising
- with age and time, wisdom may come (but sadly not always
), so at my age and stage in life, I came to realize that not everything is worth your energy and time spent
- I learned (mostly the hard way...
) that you have to pick your battles:
- think about it: due to this whole experience look at how much time you spent writing/posting about it, feeling upset about it, and how many people have gotten involved and have spent their time and energy...? Was it worth it? I am happy to spend my time on you here out of hopes that as a lesson learned, I will have contributed to the growth, improvement, and experience of my fellow human being and bass player, but there's not even a guarantee that will be the case....
- perhaps it would have meant absolutely nothing, but had you turned around and told the other shopper (the "dbag") "hey, you know what, you can have it: if it's that important to you, please keep it", you would have felt better, like the bigger person, and who knows - you might have had something better happen to you
- I have fought, argued, gotten into shouting matches, bickered, complained many times in my life; and as a consumer I have always held to the belief that the "customer is always right", and always had in me to get a good deal at all costs, but again: as a more mature adult, with kids, and with the passage of time I have realized that time spent on things that bring no positive results or things that anger/upset/annoy/bother me and others are simply a waste of time - time that I will never have back...
let that sink in for a moment...
- time spent on something that produces a good result = an investment
- time spent on something that grieves/angers/wastes money time and energy = a LOSS (because of the waste of your precious time)
- I wasted too much time in my life dealing with stuff that didn't add anything
- Had I spent that time practicing the instrument I love , maybe I wouldn't be an old fart who sucks at bass and realized that pretty late in life....
It's a long post, and not intended to be a rant: It's spoken from the heart and in humility as a fellow "struggler"; hopefully if you retain some of what I wrote here, our time and effort will not have been in vain 
here my 2 cents:
(And this coming from someone who admittedly doesn't have have the thickest of skins, and typically gets fired up about the idiocies, bad behavior, bad manners, sense of undue entitlement, lack of empathy, hypocrisy, etc I see in our society and all round me):
- *** caveat: that the assumption (benefit of the doubt to you) is that everything you described is accurate and true ***
- the other shopper was rude; I would have never insisted on holding on to merchandise if someone else in the store came and said to me they had it first
- on the other hand, until you had actually picked up the bass and either given it to a sales person or taken it to the counter to put it on hold or pay for it, the merchandise can be assumed to be "available"
- while the rules of common courtesy, basic manners learned at home, and common sense would point to people being considerate of other's personal space and defer if informed someone else had the merchandise first, "common sense is not always common" - so nothing really says it was your "right" to claim the bass
- the sales person should have handled it a lot better: actually gotten the manager involved, and make efforts to please both customers, keeping both sides happy, making more sales and eventually (not a guarantee, but possibly) having won 2 more faithful customers by the conciliatory attitude
- sales people nowadays (not all, but increasingly so) are simply not trained, do not care, and do not have common sense to handle things professionally, so your experience is sadly not unique, and not surprising
- with age and time, wisdom may come (but sadly not always
), so at my age and stage in life, I came to realize that not everything is worth your energy and time spent- I learned (mostly the hard way...
) that you have to pick your battles:- think about it: due to this whole experience look at how much time you spent writing/posting about it, feeling upset about it, and how many people have gotten involved and have spent their time and energy...? Was it worth it? I am happy to spend my time on you here out of hopes that as a lesson learned, I will have contributed to the growth, improvement, and experience of my fellow human being and bass player, but there's not even a guarantee that will be the case....
- perhaps it would have meant absolutely nothing, but had you turned around and told the other shopper (the "dbag") "hey, you know what, you can have it: if it's that important to you, please keep it", you would have felt better, like the bigger person, and who knows - you might have had something better happen to you
- I have fought, argued, gotten into shouting matches, bickered, complained many times in my life; and as a consumer I have always held to the belief that the "customer is always right", and always had in me to get a good deal at all costs, but again: as a more mature adult, with kids, and with the passage of time I have realized that time spent on things that bring no positive results or things that anger/upset/annoy/bother me and others are simply a waste of time - time that I will never have back...
let that sink in for a moment...- time spent on something that produces a good result = an investment
- time spent on something that grieves/angers/wastes money time and energy = a LOSS (because of the waste of your precious time)
- I wasted too much time in my life dealing with stuff that didn't add anything
- Had I spent that time practicing the instrument I love , maybe I wouldn't be an old fart who sucks at bass and realized that pretty late in life....It's a long post, and not intended to be a rant
: It's spoken from the heart and in humility as a fellow "struggler"; hopefully if you retain some of what I wrote here, our time and effort will not have been in vain 
one rule I learned by frequenting the local flea market: If you want it, or are thinking about wanting it: pick it up. As soon as you start to eyeball that shiny piece of junk, the guy next to you is most likely going to instantly see the beauty in that item and snag it. At which point you are screwed because it wasn't in your hand! Anything not in your hand is up for grabs .
Maybe he should have asked but you put it down to go look at something else. I think your both wrong
Children these days.
Why spend time 'trying out' a bass if it is such an amazing deal? Just buy it.
Why spend time 'trying out' a bass if it is such an amazing deal? Just buy it.
I'm with OP on this one. A little common courtesy would have made this a non situation.
Its not a generation issue,its a dbag issue.My generation is fine.Dbags are multigenerational problems.
Not according to the OP. He'll try to grab it right out of your hands.
Just admit it Gorn, you were the other guy weren't you?
So, you're saying the dude's not allowed to compare 2 basses at the same time without the risk of some d-bag scooping one of his comparisons? Get real!
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