[CW] A Call to Arms

[sbjohnston at aol.com]

 John wrote:
>There's no group of people in the world that is more tight fisted than hams.
Wow - that has certainly not been my experience.  I've encountered more generosity from my fellow hams than any other group, professional or amateur, that I've been a part of.  Offers of help, advice, free parts, equipment, and tower space have impressed and humbled me.  I do my best to keep that tradition going.  Naturally not every single person acts in this way, but it is far more likely among hams than other groups I've known. 

When I reviewed the comments on the FCC website, I did not see any that said or implied that hams just don't want to pay a fee because of personal cheapness.  The rationale presented in the comments seemed to focus on fairness, public policy, and/or what would be good for the amateur service as a whole.

I have heard comments like yours come up in the context of hamfest dickering.   There is a subset of sellers who are insulted by buyer offers, and don't seem to understand the culture of bargaining on price in a market.  They will say "hams are so cheap" and the like when they don't get their price.  

That reminds me of a story...  Some people really know how to haggle:  I once bought some silk scarfs for gifts from a woman in a clothing market in Beijing.  I came in low, she countered, we went back and forth a couple of times.  She tried hard: she yelled at me in Mandarin, she stomped around, she threw the scarfs in a box on the ground, and finally started crying.  Big wet tears rolled down her face.  But as I walked away she pulled me back and took my last offer with a big smile.  I said to the other ladies in the nearby booths, "She did a good job, didn't she" and they laughed and nodded.  One said, you did a good job too!"  


Steve WD8DAS

sbjohnston at aol.com
http://www.wd8das.net/
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-----Original Message-----
From: John <johnmb at nc.rr.com>
To: CW Reflector <cw at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thu, Nov 26, 2020 4:22 pm
Subject: Re: [CW] A Call to Arms


There's no group of people in the world that is more tight fisted than hams.



John K5MO
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