Today I went shopping in Kilburn, a nearby suburb, raiding all the £1 shops! It's the most satisfying yet economically sensible way to spend time and money. Hahaha. I bought loads of stuff including: Soap, chocolates, DVD-Rs, a LAN cable and even an umbrella. The umbrella, as I discovered later when I actually had to use it in the
rain, is very flimsy and it inverts when the wind blows!! Ooopsie. For £1, what can you expect huh.
The bestest part of the day was watching a conman in action. A bunch of East European, Pakistani and British tricksters teamed up to make quick money by capitalizing on human greed. How? Basically the witty salesman would use sneaky phrasing of words to imply that one would get incredible value for their money, but not actually directly say it. For details of their tactics, do read on...
They made use of an empty closed-down store. They covered all the glass windows with advertisments of £30 iPods, £1 radios, £40 Sony laptops, £2 TVs, £10 cameras and so on. A crowd of over 50 people flocked to the entrance to queue up. The doors swung open and everyone shoved their way in. Canvas sheets were used to block the crowds view of all parts of the store except the makeshift platform, which was used for the salesman's speeches and for displaying items. The whole shop and the salesmen looked super dodgy. The talkative witty Pakistani salesman stood on the platform and gave a very charismatic speech, convincing people that the goods were not stolen, there's a 12-month guarantee, all items are brand new, etc. Talking was not permitted and those under 18 were told to leave. Through sneaky phrasing he then impled that for £5 you could get an iPod, digital camera, PSP, and more. Naturally just about everybody raised their hand when the offer was made. He then collected all their money and gave them a crappy cheap bottle of china perfume. Daylight robbery of £250.
"How could anyone be so dumb?" you may wonder. Well, there are a few reasons for this. Firstly, because talking is not permitted, suspicions are not expressed. Due to peer pressure, when most people raise their hand, all raise. When most people stay on in the sale, all stay. Secondly, humans are greedy. When greed is aroused, logic is lost and people become irrational. When the truth is hard to bear, they comfort themselves by living in an illusion, thinking whatever they want to think. Thirdly, it is hard to express in words what exactly went on in the store. His scheme was really quite clever and well-planned, although it may sound stupid here in this post. Words cannot capture the extent of the portrayal of professional skillful deceit.
This was merely the start of a series of increasingly complex shenanigans that went on and on for over 2 hours. By the time he was done with the crowd, he had emptied nearly everyone's wallet and given them worthless items for their money.
No, I was not a victim. I didn't spend a cent. It was very entertaining though!
Next up was St Albans Cathedral, allegedly home to Britain's largest congregation. The choir happened to be practicing when we entered. The sheer magnificence of the organ and voice ensemble resonating throughout the sanctuary was breathtaking!
