Posted By:
warshawlawripping an old lady's face off (not being sarcastic; it really does sum up what some folks make it sound like they do). Or did you mean ripping off an old lady to her face? I like the first one better, it has a certain sense of urgency to it.
To answer your question, I don't think it is ever an honest bargain that is the bad part, it is the way the bargainer handles the successful deal. There is a thing called "class" that you can't buy, you can't inherit and you can't fake. Making a good deal is the American way; being a pig about it is not.
The discussion we've had here reminds me of a situation I had recently. I had a friend who got into some money troubles of his own devise and became obsessed with card values as a result. He was so desperate to make money as a card dealer that he could not stand it when anyone made a dime off cards he sold. He got so paranoid that I had to stop being friends with him. He started trying to unravel months-old deals we made because he thought in retrospect that I got the better end of things. It wasn't pretty and definitely reminded me of how friggin serious this stuff can get to some people if it is allowed to escalate.
My point is that I used to rush to the breach to fight over these threads in a very moralistic tone but I am less inclined to do so with this one because I understand how it feels to be on both ends of the debate. I have felt at times like the kid with no money looking into the candy store window and watching the rich kids open boxes of cards and at other times (as was the case with my erstwhile friend) like the rich kid staring out the window at the poor kid wondering why he's so pissed off at me. Unless you are Bill Gates or Sam Walton, we are all on both sides of the equation from time to time. I think we all need a little perspective here. It's just cardboard with pictures of male athletes (which is in no way gay...not that there's anything wrong with that, its perfectly acceptable if it is gay...but it isn't gay. Really).