Story Time - My Experience With a Cunning Con Bus Marketer

I'm very happy to be blogging once more because I'm going to share an experience I had recently while traveling by road. I'd want to share this humorous encounter with you and would also be interested in hearing what you think of the person I'm exposing.

On a public bus in the town of Abeokuta, Ogun State, I was traveling on my way home from work. If there's one thing for which I'm grateful, it's that I don't have to deal with the Lagos con artists who advertise a wide range of goods on buses yet, upon closer inspection, it becomes impossible to tell from their appearance what they are actually trying to sell.

Thus, on this certain day, I sat down in the bus, exhausted from the day's work. The conductor, who ultimately made my day, collected the transportation fare from every passenger. I must confess that the conductor was a young, attractive woman; she was very kind and had an elitist voice.

The bus quickly became full, and a young man got on board and started talking. He works as a marketer. Normally, I don't pay attention to bus marketers, but I made the decision to listen to him. I have to admit, I was interested; the man was really intelligent. I do, however, wonder if he was brilliant or if he was simply a cunning liar.

He began to talk about a herbal drink packaged in plastic bottles and noted that while he would typically charge 1500 for it in Lagos, the price in Abeokuta is only 1000. Who does this in the city of Abeokuta, I thought at first, was a surprise. Something similar is not done in Abeokuta. He may have just come here from Lagos, but I have my doubts. He said, the herbal drink works for all type of illness, but because the product is new in Abeokuta, he will be handing out 10 bottles for free to various people to go home and test and, when it works, tell your friends and family about it.

People scrambled to fetch a bottle as soon as he stated that. He eventually distributed each of the ten bottles. He continued and said

"I know I said I'd give the medicine out for free, and while it still is, you will need to do something for me by paying me for the container, which costs 500 naira." I then started to laugh internally since this man had just tricked them and trapped them, making it hard for those that has collected it to give the product back to him.

In the end, he charged the same money as he would have, but he tricked the public into thinking he was only charging for the container, which is obviously false. What do you think, then? What do you think of the man, and why?

• A cunning con man who was just trying to sell his products?

• A liar and a cheat

• Or a big time scammer?

I appreciate you reading, and I look forward to reading your thoughts in the comment section.