OUR TWO FACES

Proverbs 20.14
OUR TWO FACES
"It's no good, it's no good!" says the buyer; then off he goes and boasts about his purchase."

PROVERBS IS A WINDOW INTO THE idiosyncrasies of human behaviour. Through it, we see ourselves and our antics. It is all right to laugh at ourselves as long as we sober down enough to learn the lessons. The Living Bible paraphrases this particular eccentricity thus: "'Utterly worthless!' says the buyer as he haggles over the price. But afterwards, he brags about his bargain!" He shows two faces, different and opposite.

The scene is a bazaar or market where prices are not fixed, that is not until the seller and buyer have had a vigorous discussion about them. The tricks of the trade are many. The buyer may say things like 'It's much less at the other stall,' 'Look, it's damaged,' 'Actually, I don't really need it.' On the seller's end, he may say 'At that price, I make no profit at all!' 'For you, I give a special bargain,' 'l sold a hundred already today.' Whether any of these statements is true or otherwise is of course another question.

The buyer tries to pretend he is not interested in buying. Such pretense in negotiation pervades much of our dealings with people. In fact, the market scene represents no less a microcosm of life. There is a diplomatic pretense when we say "No" to an offer, but mean "Yes."

Some of these "acts" have to do with culture, and everyone knows what we mean. In that sense, they are acceptable. But often, to put us in better light and advantage, pretense leads to lies, exaggeration or falsification of the truth. A salesman who claims, 'This is the last I have,' when he knows there are a hundred of the same in the store, is lying. So is a customer when he fabricates some untrue excuse for not making a purchase.

The proverb not only uncovers man's pretense, it exposes also his pride. After making what he tells the seller is a poor buy, he goes and boasts about it. Regardless of what a fool we have been, we like people to think us clever. For this reason, we would read the results of public surveys with some skepticism. People like to give the right answers and appear smart rather than give the honest answers and look stupid.

The same observation may be made of some people returning from an expensive holiday. However dull and dreadful much of the experience has been, only the glamorous side is told. After spending so much money, they do not want others to think them foolish. So they pretend and preserve their pride.

What, in my life, is marked by pretense and pride?