Blog 3- apology during wholesale commerce

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Title: Wholesale Transaction of wool
 Date: 06/21/2019
Observer: Rosa Rutland
Time: 2:00 pm in the afternoon
Setting: Piklatisenja  

Description of activity:

Today I was able to accompany one of the biggest producers of wool merchandise to complete a wholesale purchase in Piklatisenja.
We arrived at Piklatisenja and went to the office of the largest warehouse of wool. The office looked like the Livingroom of a home with seats and tables placed in a way to encourage conversations.
Seller:  ranthun ifothebshan (hello, how are you?)
Buyer: gere, ifothebshan (good, how are you?)
The buyer and seller both know what I am there to do. I sit on a chair on the side of the room.
Seller: hebshantekim thotaefna ye jezha (do you want sugar in your rose-tea?)
Buyer: aɳkanju (no, thank you)
The seller goes to an adjacent room and comes out with a tray that has three small bone cups without handles.  He gives me a cup and places the tray on a small table between them.
Seller: ifot hebshan mat (how is your mother?)
Buyer: gere helshan omanedna zhuranefna helshan bat ye chotsheisenja (good, she went to see her daughter in research island.)
Seller:  helshan bat ye Tifzhu je Zhuif (Is her daughter in lost to found practice?)
Buyer: nye mat omanedna helshan palazhuit (yes, mother is going to her speech of found)
The buyer takes a sip of his tea and makes a funny gesture because there is a lot of sugar in his tea, but changes it to a smile quickly, since it very important that politeness must be maintained during such substantial transactions. The keen seller notices the gesture.
            Seller:  thota ye hebshan li jezha (Is there sugar in your rose-tea?)
            Buyer: aɳ gunfa jezha dike (no, that’s alright. the rose must be from a sweet plant.)
            Seller: hefshan akinedna mochi hefshan izhongedna hebshan hefshan li chukun (‘I did wrong’ it is an apology. I gave you my cup.)
The seller tastes his cup and realizes that the buyer has taken the wrong cup of tea.
            Buyer: jezha gere. (The rose-tea is good.)
The seller apologizes again and returns to the adjacent room with another cup of tea without sugar this time. The buyer takes it and thanks the seller.
The seller continues to talk about his last trip to lapaisenja and their families.


Reflection:

During big transactions between the inhabitants of different islands, it is very important for the seller to always keep a friendly tone. It is the practice of the buyer to go to the seller’s headquarters to drink /jezha/ (rose-tea) with the seller. The buyer must compliment the tea with words like /gere /(good). That is why when the buyer tasted the tea with the sugar he did not want, he tried to hide his dislike.  The seller who was very sensitive, noticed and brought him another cup.
The indirect speech act of the apology of the Seller to the Buyer was very interesting in that the seller verbally confesses to giving the buyer the wrong cup. However, it was the buyer who picked up the wrong cup. It appears that this apology is a mechanism of saving face done by the seller. This practice deters feelings of offence the buyer may develop before the negotiations begin. Emotional comfort seems to be very important to the oktip buyers. Although, it raises a concern for the emotional health of the seller.
Tea-time is supposed to be a time to share personal information about family and self. Only after the tea, begin the negotiations. Polite language must be used during negotiation time and equitable turn taking is imperative. The buyer must compliment the quality of the product before leaving the negotiations. Whether a transaction occurs or not, the conversation must end politely with /tana/ (peace).

Questions raised:

1.     Where else in the oktip culture does this practice of saving face shows up?
2.     When did this practice began?


           

           
           




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