This was a fun interaction, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
For those of you who don't already know, @papa-pepper has his own way of doing things. You might even say that I march to the beat of my own accordion. Basically, a lot of it stems from my desire to be a blessing in the life of others.
Whether it's haggling with a merchant at the farmer's market to encourage them to charge me more or making trades where I come out "behind" and the other person way ahead, I am often doing things a little different. Interestingly enough, it seems that my activity has now begun to be turned on me, but I'll share more about that soon enough.
This will be part one of a four part series where I share some real life interactions with people. The purpose of this post is not to brag about @papa-pepper being some sort of great guy or anything, it is just to provide some evidence to demonstrate the type of life that I choose to live, and how I choose to interact with others. The next three parts will focus on how others have recently chose to interact with me. I think that you will be surprised by the other three!
AN OPPORTUNITY TO BLESS A YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR
Not all of the animals that we raise are ones that we will keep. Some we may sell, some we may give away, and others we may barter with. Recently, I received a text message from a young man. The kid is 13 years old and is getting into breeding rabbits as a business that he can do in his free time. Personally, I was blessed to hear it.
I think that is more young people were focused on at least creating some ways to potentially earn some sort of income, it would give them some great skills that can come in handy later in life. Whether it is just handling money, interacting professionally with others, making business plans, being responsible, or creative problem solving, life experiences like those can forever help shape and mold a young individual in ways that can set them up for a much brighter future than the unmotivated and uninspired.
The boy had four bucks and only two does, which is not the best ratio for breeding rabbits. He was hoping that someone would be willing to trade some does for some bucks. While a one doe for one buck ratio may seem appropriate, some would even argue that the does are more desirable and therefore worth more than males, since they are the ones that can produce more bunnies.
However, in typical @papa-pepper style, I had a different approach. I offered up two does per buck. Why? Because I wanted to bless the young man. If he's going to be breeding and selling rabbits, he'll need does that can be bred and birth more. With the potential trade I offered him, he'd end up with a total of two bucks and six does, which would be a much better ratio. While the boy was willing to trade at a ratio of 1:1, we was eager to receive my generous offer.
Since I knew that he liked a variety of color in his rabbits, I picked out four different does that would not be used in our breeding program. I took these photos late at night with a flashlight while we were trading, but they should still give you a good idea of the colors of the does that we traded with him.
Black & White Spotted
Smokey Gray
Black
White with Brown Tips
THE BUCKS
While our rabbits are mostly Rex with some Chinchilla mixed in, his were New Zealand. We were looking to diversify the genetics anyway, so this would work out well for us. Since we are also having some fun experimenting with the color combinations and patterns that we can end up with as a result of breeding different pairs, we were excited to see these bucks in person.
His "special" one was white with some interesting spots of black and brown. Personally, I had never seen a rabbit like it, but it sure did look beautiful and peculiar.
The other one was a rusty orange color, which was also cool. The deal went down, the swap was made, and we each were happy with the results. We now had some new bucks with some fantastic colors, and he had four new does for his business, all of which were different colors.
THE WATERING SYSTEM
The next order of business was a watering system that he had mentioned. He said he had two for sale if I was interested. Not knowing exactly what I was getting myself into, I told him that I'd have to look at it in person first. On our homestead we are unfortunately still filling individual bottles, which is not ideal. I have plans on setting up a larger watering system, but I have not gotten around to is yet.
The system that he had was basic, but efficient. Basically, a five gallon bucket is filled with water, which feeds a length of hose with drinking attachments hooked up to it. Each rabbit can then pull water from the same source and only one bucket needs to be filled rather than many smaller bottles.
Since he had two of these systems, I asked him how much he wanted for both. At first, he was hesitant to answer. I then rephrased my question, "If you received a really good price for them, how much would that be?" He replied that he would sell them both for $20. Naturally, I asked if he'd take $30 for both of them, and he once again accepted my generous offer.
I'll have to pick up some new parts and do some rebuilding and distance adjustment, but soon we should no longer be filling multiple bottles every day!
AN INVESTMENT IN THE FUTURE
From a business point of view, I gave up twice as many rabbits as I needed to and $10 more than I would have had to pay. Potentially, I may have even been able to haggle with him and pay less. However, I chose to do the opposite. Why?
Odds are that this young man will never be in a business deal like this again. Honestly, they don't exactly happen all that frequently. However, at least he knows that they are possible. Perhaps he will not always be in a position to be on the receiving end of such a deal, but as he continues in life he may have opportunities where he can choose to bless others.
Besides the interesting example that I set, I also wanted to encourage and support this young entrepreneur. Now he has more funds and twice as much production potential that he could have received from me. These things can make a big difference as he continues to build his business. Hopefully, it'll help him.
As I said when I started, this is just an example of one way that I like to interact with others. Have any of you ever done similar things? Have you ever had someone be generous towards you in a business deal? Recently, I've had a few interesting interactions with others, and I'll be sharing those stories in the next three parts of this series.
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-of-colorful-new-buck
Until next time…
Don’t waste your time online, invest it with steemit.com
Awesome that you are supporting young entrepreneurship. I wish I had more opportunities to learn about money when I was that age, but back then I guess I didn't understand how important money would be.
It seems unlikely he'll find another deal like yours anytime soon... lol
Thanks! I thought it was a good investment in the future!
It's great to know about our young entrepreneur who started with rabbit and most what I like is that you really help him to grow . This kind behaviour of your really drive people to you.
Thank you! It's just how I like to do things!
Welcome sir
Great post and beautiful rabbit 🐰
Thank you!
Inspiring :) #inspiring #entrepreneur
Thank you!
Seems like you are really fond of Rabbit xD
I like all animals, but rabbits sure are lovable!
cool
that's really great idea man :)
Thank you. I thought so too!
Showing wisdom when helping the young is a valuable asset all its own. Have to say well done and what a bright spark this young entrepreneur is. I hope he'll have lots of little bunnies to keep and get abusiness going. Love rabbits I say!
I agree, I hope it'll get him off to a great start!
Very nice of you, you seem to like helping people I love that.
Thanks @bigbear!
This touch me as it remind of how the top richest man in the world started investing their time just to have good knowledge of business, i wrote a post about it but only few got my point.
When i saw this post again it was like a quick flash back at my head thank you for this post @papa-peper.
Very cool! It's best to start understanding things young, because then you'll have more experience later.
Experience speak always and anytime it speaks, it speak with a loud voice.
nice work my friend @papa-pepper
Thank you @jasonmunapasee!
You're welcome @papa-pepper.
This post had me smiling from beginning to end! :D I can imagine the little businessman's face lighting up! hehe brilliant! It is so important to instill these business skills (Yes, bartering is a business skill) into the youth of today as I think it is a lost art. Maybe he was manipulating you without you realizing and actually played you, or maybe you are just a really great guy! Either way, bravo! :D
Never even considered that one! LOL! Let's hope not!
What a charming way to act and I'm sure, one that boy will remember even as an old man.
I recently did something similar, at least in a small way. We were at a cafe for a rare cup of coffee out. It was a special occasion and coffee is not normally in the budget. At the counter was a nervous new employee. He was so kind and so nervous, poor guy.
As he was totalling our order I noticed he was almost 10% off. I could have said nothing, paid 10% less and have saved on that rare treat. Instead, I told him and pointed out exactly what his mistake was. He got a little flustered and asked me why I would tell him that and I said that honesty gets you the farthest in life. (I left out that I knew he would have to make out the difference with his own paycheck). I also told him I had enjoyed being served by him and that he could relax, he was doing a great job. When I left he had a big thankful smile on his face and so did I. I think I gained as much from that experience as he did and those 10% were well spent.
Wow! Great job on that one!
It was just a small gesture, but worth it!
It looks like your new bucks got some pretty good meat on their bones. Which will probably show up in their litters. Which will be good.
I think you will definitely like the colors these throw. The little peppers will probably REALLY like the colors.
Yup, they seemed like a good deal anyway, but I like to have extra fun!
What you did is great, not only it was generous of you to encourage this young man but also you acted outside the conventional ways of doing things. Sometimes we are almost enslaved by our habits and selfishness. What you did was also an expression of freedom from your side. Free from acting following your self-interests and free to choose to improve the lives of people around you, something true leaders should do
You are very correct about that. It was a great exercise of freedom! Thanks for illuminating that point.
A great lesson in business for the young lad. And those rabbits are adorable. There are lots of wild rabbits where I live, and some of them are black, like this one that I spotted just across the road from my flat, when I was doing some gardening. I think the black ones are really cute with their glossy fur.
Very cool! We have some black ones too, but they are certainly not wild. Thanks!
Ha, that is how we do it - and in the end it pays out in more than just a huge amount of happiness on boths sides! So good to read your posts and see that there are more and more stepping out of the regular market system ... the rusty orange buck might have some Burgunder in it... we used to breed them for quite a while :-) Cheers from the Seven Mountains in Germany
Cool! Thanks! I too like bartering and dealing with people one on one vs the current system.
You not only gave that young man a good deal, but also planted in him the seed of kindness and generosity. Hopefully, he will one day be in a position to help others and I am quite positive, he will remember this experience and be generous with others around him. You not only fueled his dream, but also created in him the desire to be the one who helps out others. This is inspirational and the rabbits are so so adorable. My personal favorite is the last brownish buck. Love that color but all the rabbits are extremely cute and look so innocent.
Thank you! I thought it was a good opportunity to take advantage of too!
I'm glad it was a win-win for both the parties :)
That's awfully generous of you Papa. Hopefully he keeps this transaction in the back of his mind for the rest of his life. For when the time comes, he too can give back more than he takes to help someone else in his current situation.
I don't have any animals at the moment to barter, but I have been starting to shell out some steem to get my friends and family members user names here on steemit using @anonsteem The sign up process has been dismal lately and I get disheartened hearing from my friends that they haven't gotten their user names approved yet. Just as of today, my uncle and one of my best buddies got their accounts thanks to @anonsteem and I can't wait to see them start their Steemit journey.
I've handed out a few accounts that way too! Great job!
You have not only helped a young entrepreneur get started you showed him how to do business in an ethical way. You could ave taken advantage of him but you didn't. I hope he succeeds with his business...
Me too. At least I was able to get him off to a good start!
Awesome post. What a way to drive a young lad's passion forward. Its so important to nurture such interests. I like your style!
Thank you. I appreciate it!
Well done.... They are the future and it takes principled people to teach them the way...Shalom!
Thank you for your encouragement once again. Shalom!
That was such a sweet thing to do and those bunnies are so cute. :D I like rabbits but our puppy dogs would just try to chase, and/or eat them, if we had any so I'll just have to settle for watching the occasional bunny wander across my yard to make our puppy dogs crazy instead. :D I'm sure that young entrepreneur will remember the deals he made with you today for a long time to come and if he's really lucky, he'll get the chance to pay it forward in future interactions. :D
Wonderful post as always, thank you for sharing. :D Have an awesome day! :D
Thank you!
You're welcome! :D
I like the way you roll, @papa-pepper! That kid is going to be so full of plans and goals, he won't sleep for a week. ;~D
Both of the bucks are handsome fellows. You're going to get some fun color combos, I'm sure!
They are some handsome fellas, and I'm happy with the outcome!
Very interesting that you mentioned NZ rabbits.
If they were wild NZ rabbits the farmers in the South Island would pay you mega bucks to take twice as many as you wanted, as long as there were at least 6 zeros after the number you thought of.
Here the whole hill moves in a ripple effect as the wild rabbits hop around.
Wow! Sounds interesting to witness.
the brown one looks like a wild rabbit. Boy, can they breed.
Wow, what a beautiful rabbits @papa-pepper, look all cutes... I like it....
Great opportunity. Those are some good looking rabbits. Thank you for sharing. I am glad I can atleast make comments. I have not been able to post a blog for several days.
this is a very generous deal you offered the boy but would setting him up with a steemit account not have been the best deal of all?
he would have had his rabbits and could post about them to boost everything to a whole new level...
WOW. What a impression you made on this young gentleman. It is important to invest in young people. I bet you just taking his offers serious made a big impression on him. He will remember your actions toward him the rest of his life.
Wonderful story. I have a similar approach to life, when I travel I never hassle to get the lowest price possible on markets. I give what I feel is a fair exchange, which is often more than the expected price.
Similarly, when I bought my house a few years ago, during the negotiation phase I offered a price 6k higher than I knew they would accept just because that price was a number that I preferred numerologically. My real-estate agent thought I was nuts, but I felt happy with the price and so did the sellers I hope.
i had rabbits as my pets before, actually i wanna make it for bussiness, but I failed