Quote:
Originally Posted by nostatic
I routinely tell my son, "they all do it" or "the other guy did it first" is not an excuse for his behavior.
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Except the context matters.
This was not a handshake deal between friends, or Pelicans, or "gentlemen farmers" as mentioned earlier in this thread.
This is buying a new car, i.e., hand to hand warfare.
The expectations, and the rules of engagement, are different.
The salesman demonstrated it when he blatantly lied on the phone. He defined the rules of engagement. From that point on, it's "game on."
What ND did was completely fair, under those rules,
as defined by the salesman/dealership.
In fact, if ND would have gone through with the deal, he would have been rewarding the dealership for their bad behavior. Instead of helping make the world a better place, he would have actually helped make it worse, by making the salesman's lies and broken promises financially rewarding/successful. ND wouldn't be a "gentleman," he'd be a "sucker."
I think what happened was sweet justice. The salesman/dealership tried to punk ND, but ultimately got punked back.
I hope that when you tell your son "they all do it" or "the other guy did it first" is not an excuse for his behavior, that you also tell him everything isn't always so black and white.