A friend of mine in Memphis cut hair for a living.
One day, we were out running errands. We drove past a beauty supply store. He needed a few things. We stopped and went inside.
He spent about 45 minutes going through the various aisles. He needed this sort of razor or that sort of hair clip, this kind of hair product, that kind of spray bottle.
He walked up to the cash register with about $250 worth of supplies.
He set them all out on the counter and said,
I need all of this, and about a dozen of those combs behind the counter. I don’t want to pay for the combs though, since I’m buying all of this other stuff.
The store clerk nodded, rang up all of the products he’d placed on the counter, and then added a large handful of combs to his bag. There were about a dozen of them, and they were free.
After we walked out, I laughed and asked my friend, how did you get them to give those to you? They were 2 bucks a piece. They just gave you 25 bucks worth of stuff for free caused you wanted it?
He answered
No. They didn’t. First off, those combs aren’t worth two dollars a piece. They’re worth a quarter, max.
Second, the reason they gave them to me is not because I wanted them. It’s because I asked them to. Nobody ever says yes if you never ask them to in the first place.
photo credit: Victor Bezrukov via photopin cc
