Bargain Hunter

When I moved in with him, in El Estor, Guatemala, A. had a wooden loveseat.  It was a very uncomfortable loveseat because the slats were too far apart and cut deep grooves into the flesh.  A. told me that when he had first arrived in El Estor he had no furniture, and so he went in search of a carpenter who could make him a loveseat.  He found a man who told him the price of making a loveseat and A., though he had no idea the price of making a loveseat in El Estor, just knew that the man was trying to rip him off because that's the way people were.  A., not wanting to be seen as a fool, bargained ruthlessly with the carpenter, insisting on a price half of what the man originally quoted.  Eventually, the man, needing the work, reluctantly gave in, making A. feel triumphant.  But in order to make the loveseat for such a deflated price, the carpenter had to use less wood than he normally did, and as a result, every time we sat on the loveseat, the slats dug into our flesh making deep red grooves.