Monto, the 5th Grader Master Buyer

I was born and raised in Osaka.
I love the city of Osaka.
It's warm, and I liked the sense of distance between people.
That pushy, forward feeling.

The interactions between adults and the greengrocers are also
interesting.


"Hey there, young lady!"
They say to someone who is clearly an elderly person!
When paying for things,


"I'll throw this in too!"
they might add another vegetable,
and when giving change,
"Here you go, 3 million yen in change~"
they say, while handing back 300 yen.

The things the middle-aged ladies say are funny, and
the banter between customers is also fun.


Perhaps because of that environment,
children also learn early on how to interact with merchants
and start haggling.


Let me tell you about my friend Monto.
A friend who was in the same class as me since the 3rd grade.
A boy with an adorable smile, a bold attitude, and
the loudest voice around.


When we were in 5th grade, we often went
river fishing, which was popular at the time, with Monto.


Gradually, we started getting picky about our fishing gear.
There was a big fishing tackle shop in the next town,
and Monto and I would ride our bikes there.


Once there, Monto would quickly
find the person in charge and approach them.

With a cute, childlike smile,

"Hey, mister. I really want this fishing rod, but
it's too expensive and I can't afford it. Can you give me a discount?"

he would say.


The person who appeared to be the manager
"Alright, alright. Which one do you want?"
he would ask.


"This one," and
Monto would point to a 5,000 yen rod.
"Oh, this one? Okay, I'll knock 1,000 yen off."
the manager would say.


Monto would immediately respond,

"No way, no way, I only have 3,000 yen.
Make it half price, 2,500 yen~"

he would say with a smile.

After a little more back-and-forth,
in the end, the manager would say,
"I give up. Alright. Fine,
2,500 yen it is. You got me down to half price!"
and he would give us the discount while laughing.
He even put in a good word for us with the female cashier.


Monto, getting a 5,000 yen rod for half price.
So reliable~


On the way home, Monto would
"Actually, I do have 5,000 yen. Since I have 2,500 yen left over, I'll treat you to takoyaki with this."
he would say with an adorable smile.

Even as a 5th grader,
he had the presence of a master buyer.
He fully utilized his weapon of being an elementary school student
and knew his own value.


I became Monto's apprentice
and haggled my way through fishing shops, retail stores, and more.

When I haggled at a camera shop in the old Jusco (now Aeon),
the manager even told me,
"This is the first time I've ever been haggled here!"
Basically, merchants tend to enjoy


the back-and-forth of conversation.
I learned that it's good to
nudge them while keeping the conversation going.
I don't think I was ever really disliked for it.
As an apprentice,


I grew steadily.
Thanks to Monto,
I was fortunate to be able to practice
handling money in real-world situations.
I haven't seen Monto in over 30 years.


Is he still out there haggling away
with that same adorable smile?
I hope the day comes soon when we can meet at a class reunion.


I'm sure I'll be able to hear stories
that are full of material for my note posts.
I'll be sure to report back to you all when that happens!
Thank you for reading until the end.


Thank you as always for the likes, follows, and comments. It really encourages me.