On: Letter to Myself in Late 2008

[mirimir]

> And also, that it's better to make it seem that you are not the decision maker or that there is some sort of external price anchor.

That's the Good cop/bad cop" routine.[0]

0) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_cop/bad_cop

[BostonFern → mirimir]

Haha, did you really need to link to a Wikipedia article for that one?

[sbierwagen → BostonFern]

HN has many non-native English speakers. Including a Wikipedia link for English idioms is handy for them.

[mirimir → BostonFern]

I was going to quote Burroughs' characterization of Hauser and O'Brien from Naked Lunch. So anyway, here's what he said about them:

> O'Brien was the con man, and Hauser the tough guy. A vaudeville team. Hauser had a way of hitting you before he said anything just to break the ice. Then O'Brien [is friendly and encourages cooperation].