Reciprocity

We’re in Paris. More about that later. For now, a quick post about reciprocity.

As we left the Louvre, a guy was selling Eiffel Tower keychains and other souvenirs. I tried to steer the kids away, and told the guy that we weren’t going to buy any, but he saw how much Henry wanted a keychain and he insisted on giving one to Henry.

Of course, the law of reciprocity kicked in. We got about 30 feet away and I felt compelled to return and give him some money.

I tried to overpay. He was charging 1 euro for a keychain. I gave him 5 and told him to keep the change, using the extra to help other kids.

He wouldn’t accept. Instead, he insisted on giving us another 2 keychains and a larger statue. I even tried walking away but he chased us down and forced it on me.

So, double law of reciprocity? At this point it was truly altruistic, since I already had all the souvenirs I wanted, and I had already given him money. Why didn’t he just accept my 5 euros? He and I would have both been happy. He would have had a great sale, and I would have felt good about being nice to someone else.

Oh well, it all worked out for good.