“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
Growing Dominion, Part 119
“It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth” (Prov. 20:14).
Let us call this the garage sale proverb. Yard sales are the one place where most Americans still feel comfortable in dickering over price, and so the principle can be seen clearly. While “negotiating” over the card table, or lampshade, or used grapefruit rind, whatever it is they sell at yard sales, the deficiencies are pointed out by the prospective buyer, and the excellencies of the item are pointed out by the seller. They finally agree on a price, and when the buyer drives away and turns the corner, he lets out a loud whoop of jubilation. The thing is far more valuable to him than he was letting on. Of course, the seller lets out a sigh of relief—that piece of junk is finally gone.
The problem with this, of course, is what theologians call dishonesty. The problem is not the dickering, but rather talking one away about item x in one situation and in a completely different way about it in another. This dishonesty is more than just a natural shift in emphasis. This proverb reminds that at some point a shift in emphasis becomes lying.