Cameron Morrison lived in an African country. One day he stopped at the local the market to buy tomatoes. He looked the young woman behind the counter in the eye and asked for the price of the smallest heap. Cameron had learned the hard way that everything here was negotiable.

“The small heap is 25 cents,” said the woman. “The medium one is 50 cents and the largest in $1.”

"Come over, and we negotiate," replied Cameron.

“If you want to negotiate, the price is 30 cents for the smallest heap,” the woman smiled.

“Why are you increasing the price?” Cameron wanted to know.

“It is because you want to negotiate,” replied the woman. “That is the price unless you want something else.”

“What else can I negotiate?”

“I don’t know,” the woman replied, smiling. “But everything here is on sale.”

Cameron shook his head in disbelief and handed the woman a $1 bill. The woman packed the tomatoes, handed them over to Cameron and went back behind the counter.

Cameron stood there waiting for the balance. The woman looked at him inquiringly.

“My balance please,” said Cameron.

"Sorry, I thought I gave you the balance," the woman replied apologetically. "Can we negotiate?"

Cameron was irritated. “I want only my change!”

"Sorry I did not mean to hurt you," the woman said in a low tone. "I wanted to negotiate with you, so you give me some time to look for change. I don’t have change.”

As the woman moved to a nearby stall to look for change, Cameron felt uneasy because of his behavior. He was embarrassed at the way he treated the woman. Perhaps the woman had no other intentions except looking for the change.

After a few minutes, the woman came back with change and handed it over to Cameron and said: “Thank you, Sir.”

“I am sorry,” Cameron said. “I misunderstood you.”

“Never mind,” the woman replied. “Please come again.”

As Cameron drove home, his mind went back to the woman. I will go back and buy some more stuff from that woman, he thought.