My pass through Turkey was mainly to get between Israel and one of its hostile neighbors of the Arab world. I had been to Istanbul before, and since I had done it to satisfaction, I had little motivation to explore this city further. I had also been griped with a discomfort so Turkey was mainly a resting ground. But I did have one experience that is worth noting.
Jumping off of the bus at Taksim, where the busses from the airport go, we quickly grabbed a few simcards from rip-off street vendors, then began hiking down the hill with all of luggage to the nearby tram stop. Along the way, a shoe-shiner whisked by, dropping his brush. Like any self-respecting person, I tapped his shoulder and pointed out his apparent mistake. He thanked me and we parted ways briefly before he called me back and called me his friend and offered me a shoeshine. Of course, I had thought his kindness was in return for mine, and so I took it and left him a small tip. You probably know how the story ends: he asked for the full price of the shoe shine. Of course, I didn’t pay. The price wasn’t high; I just couldn’t believe how this man tried to take advantage of my kindness.
Upon getting on the tram, another dark thought popped into my head. Was it possible that he dropped the brush on purpose? I searched up some harlequin tricks on my phone carrying my newly minted sim card. Apparently, dropping the brush was as old of a trick as it gets. A search for “shoeshine trick” on Google has Istanbul written all over it. I was appalled. How morally draining would it be to devise a trick that hurts the very people that try to help you. It lies deftly in the face of humanity. I felt no anger towards the man; he probably needs to do this to survive. If anything, I felt sympathy for having to commit moral suicide to survive.
Finally, it is worth mentioning two academic theories that explain why the shoe-shiner’s strategy is unstable. First, humans have biologically evolved to appreciate reciprocity. It is an ancient form of lending, an accounts receivable. If one act of kindness is not reciprocated, that antagonizes customer such that it is highly unlikely the customer will pay anything more. In game theory, certain stable strategies are called “tit-for-tat”: they involve co-operating until the opponent defects. It is a game theoretic version of reciprocity. Of course, as soon as the shoe-shiner defects, that’s the end to the co-operation. By this reasoning it seems like the shoe-shiner needs to get another job, or at least another way to get his clients. Perhaps, if he reads this blog, he will thank me. I’m saving his soul along with his livelihood.