I don't understand what you are not understanding. One might go into a shop and negotiate a discount but one wouldn't got in and try to emotionally blackmail the vendor into giving you a discount. It would be very rude for me to go into Curry's and start demanding reductions because my husband had left me and I had three children and no job. It's just not in the transaction, and it's not there because it is leveraging personal information in a business transaction which is a big boundary violation.
And, I don't understand what it is that you're not understanding about what I'm saying. Because I'm not disagreeing with what you said above. I agree that there are boundaries in business.
What I'm disagreeing with is the way one of our posters took it upon herself to decide that, because of the quality and cost of the homes in a particular neighborhood, a person should be able to afford a lawnmower herself. Frankly, that's none of this EHellion's business. As other posters have said, they might have trouble purchasing something like a lawnmower after buying a new home as well. We don't know a person's finances and should not speculate on whether or not they "should" be able to afford something or not. Who's to say this new home wasn't given to Lawnmower Girl as a result of her grandmother's death and she got it in the will? So, she really doesn't have as much money as our EHellion is speculating.
Could Lawnmower Girl have phrased her request better? Maybe. But, like I said, I read it more as excitement about a new home rather than a plea to be a charity case. That's all in the reading, and maybe some of you read it differently than I did. That's cool. Interpretation of someone's words is up to the reader.
Could Lawnmower Girl have afforded her own mower without FC? Maybe. But, asking on FC may have been just one avenue of her looking. It could be that she was, at the same time, looking through the weekly flyers in the newspaper for a good buy at Sears, checking with her friends and family to see if they had one, and many other avenues. FC might not have been her only method of trying to get this mower. We don't know. Doesn't matter.
Could Lawnmower Girl truly be a scam artist trying to get something for nothing? Maybe. Who knows? She could be a complete jerk who's trying to beat the system. That would be sad, but it's a possibility. I'd rather not assume that from the get-go, but everyone's thoughts on that can differ.
As I said, I think some of you are trying to take what I'm saying and apply it to a much broader generalization than I'm actually talking about. Don't try to stretch my meaning into every situation! I'm fully aware that there are a lot of people out there who are trying to get something for nothing. I know there are some absolute jerks out there. I know that, when dealing on FC, you probably come across a lot of eyeroll-worthy behavior. I guess what I'm saying, though, is maybe be careful that your eyerolling and cynicism doesn't become so ingrained that you miss the people who truly aren't trying to scam you.
