Speaking of negotiating, I’m reminded of my favorite true Yankee negotiator story of all time. It’s in Live Free and Eat Pie, I believe. If not that one, then Could Have Been Worse. Maybe both. I’ve been telling it for years.
Linwood Rodgers of Canterbury used to sell picnic tables out front of his place. For $16 each – that’s how long ago it was. Long time ago. A fella pulled up in a big old truck with out-of-state plates; probably summer people. He looked the picnic tables over. “Sixteen dollars,” he says.
“Yup,” Linwood says.
“How long does it take you to make one of those picnic tables?”
Linwood thought a while. “Oh,” he says, “About four hours.”
“Four hours,” fella says – doing some quick calculations in his head; he was a smart fella, probably went to Harvard. “Four hours, $16. That’s about $4 an hour, isn’t it?”
“Yup,” Linwood says.
Fella says, “Well, could you make me a picnic table for $3 an hour?”
“Sure,” Linwood says. “But it would take me a little longer.”
One time I was telling this story at the Merrimack County Nursing Home. I’d just started when a nurse stuck her head in the door. “Linwood Rodgers?” she said.
“Yes,” I said, “do you know him?”
“He was my uncle.”
After the story, I asked her if it sounded about right. She said it did. That made me smile. I wouldn’t want to use Linwood’s name in vain.
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