Genuine Classic Gangster
One of the Regulars
- Messages
- 163
- Location
- Canada
I generally don't find a request to know how much a hat cost to be intrusive. The question is not really about the cost... it's a conversation device used by many men (very few women) to say "I'd really like to know more about this."
That is exactly what I used to think...until the incident described in the OP happened to me.
To the other person's mind, me providing the cost information for my hat was the catalyst that gave him license to speculate, comment, and ask questions about how rich I must be.
In his case, his agenda didn't seem to be so much "I'd like to know more about this," as it was, "I'd like to ferret out the 'good stuff' financial 'scoop' about this fellow."
Granted, his agenda may have started out like you said, and then changed to the one I have stated, once his shock at hearing what he considered to be a very high & very unreasonable number of dollars to pay for a hat got the cogs of his mind turning in a different way.
In any case, I will now avoid giving direct cost information (by using the techniques that others have posted in this thread ) to acquaintances/coworkers just to be sure that awkward situations like the aforementioned one do not happen again. That is kind of a shame for the persons who might in the future ask me about cost just because they are sincerely interested in learning more about hats, but, in my opinion, letting them down is better than giving them the information. To give them the information opens the door that leads to a path that could allow for myself to become an object of petty gossip.