So, part of me felt like I should drop the “fictional anime” gimmick and directly reference the box set I wasn’t willing to pay that much for.  I mean, clever readers who know me well enough won’t have much trouble working out what I was looking at here.  But the thing is, the real dude was absolutely the only person in the whole building selling that particular title, meaning if he ever saw this comic he’d easily realize I was talking about him, and I feel a bit bad about openly flaunting the fact that I DIDN’T end up giving him money.

And before anybody says it: Yes, I know haggling exists and I could have tried to argue the dude down.  Except I never would have, because I hate creating awkward interactions with strangers… which is to say ANY interactions.  And I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve seen the anime in question selling for more than a hundred dollars.  Dude was already offering this thing at a discount, so me trying to argue the price down further would just be ripping him off.  Really, though, the clincher was the fact that I didn’t have the full amount in cash on me at the moment, and the ATM was enough of a walk away that there’s no way I would have made it there and back without talking myself out of a purchase anyway.

That’s not to say I didn’t absolutely end up blowing most of the cash I DID still have on me on something absolutely important.  Cue totally shameless plug for my Patreon.