Turkish salespeople are much more aggressive than those in the U. S. When you walk past a Starbucks in America, for instance, the clerks won't run outside and try to drag you in. They won't pelt you with questions like, "Have you ever had a frappuccino?" "Do you like frappuccinos?" or "Why don't you get a frappuccino now?"

In Turkey, though, whenever you pass a store, someone will run out and try to drag you in. While Raoul found it industrious, for me it quickly went from odd to incredibly annoying.

Here's what the first four hundred Turkish salespeople said to me.

Hello. Do you want to buy a rug? No? Are you cheap? Are you too tall to reach the money in your pants? You cannot enjoy money unless you spend it. Come into my store and spend your money there. Where are you from? New York! I have a cousin in New York! Do you need a gift for your secretary, or horse? Wait! Come back! It is very rude to walk away.

Here's what the next four hundred Turkish salespeople said to me.

Hello. Do you want to buy a rug? You already bought eighty of them, enough to cover the floor of your home five feet deep? Then how about some for the walls? Really? You don't have any walls? How can that -- you are kidding me. You are making a joke! Where are you from? Getlost! I have a cousin in Getlost. Do you need a -- what? Your secretary ate your horse? Wait! Come back! It is very rude to walk away.

Naturally, Raoul sided with the shopkeepers. "How can you just ignore people talking to you?" he accused. "That's so disrespectful." Of course, it took him forty-five minutes to cross the street.

Me, I figure if I'm rude back home, I have the right to be rude in foreign countries. In the U. S., I don't put up with BS from bums. I won't silently endure long monologues before I say no. It's wasting their time and my time. I know all too well how it goes: "I've been sick, I haven't been able to find work, I got in a car wreck, and now I don't have money for food." Yes, I know, blah blah blah. Call me crazy, but I don't need to listen to the whole drawn-out story before I say, "Look, times are tough for everybody, Mom."