The Jew Fear

So, one of the most interesting things about being born into a Jewish family (or any other minority, I'm sure, but I'm not qualified to comment), is the legacy stereotypes you're saddled with from the moment you pop out of the uterus. Jews are cheap and conniving, right?

At some point in early adulthood, this fear really sunk in - there was nothing I could do. I could give every penny away my entire life, and some redneck would still call me a cheap kike, accuse me of "Jewing him down," etc. Granted, I grew up in Southern California, not Alabama, and it's not 1955 anymore, but fears are not rational. So, my coping mechanism has been to never bargain for anything. I'm the guy who pays full retail FOR EVERYTHING, particularly if the seller is wearing a Christmas sweater, a crucifix or any other hints of religiosity or Midwesternism. Fat woman with bad bleach job and a cute kitty T-shirt? How much you want? I'll pay double.

Oh, or if he looks to be Palestinian.

This process I have named "The Jew Fear." It's an expensive way to go through life, but a little self-flagellation is good for you. Right?

How does this all connect with the cards? There is NO way to make a penny doing this if you don't get your goods for as next to nothing as possible. Every transaction involves quite a bit of back and forth over what they're "worth" (well, except the Tranny Cards, but we haven't gotten there yet). As noted earlier, just about everyone thinks their childhood collection has 2-5 times the value than the market will bear. I've walked away from several possible deals once realizing that the person had delusions of grandeur... or RUN away (see my first blog), but that's rare. In nearly every case, in order to make this whole enterprise work, I have had to resort to my ancestral tendencies that I have spent so much of my life squashing down.

So, what I'm trying to say here is that if you have a car for sale, I'm the guy you want to sell it to. BUT, if your card collection is for sale, expect Shylock.