Not sure I'd agree with the characterization of Ali Hakim as a con man...he's a peddler who regularly comes through this community and probably many other communities like it in the region. If the members of this community or any of the communities on his route ever got the impression that he was cheating them, he'd probably be run out of town and not ever be welcome back again...which is going to impact his livelihood. In fact, depending on how much the members of this community interact with people in other communities around the region, Ali Hakim's reputation might be trashed entirely in every community that he visits and that puts him out of business.
I'm not saying that he's necessarily a good guy...I think he's probably got a girl in every town, and I think he's probably lying about being Persian, and I think he'd do his best to get anything for anyone who's willing to pay, even if it wasn't entirely legal. But, at base, I think he's an honest businessman who has the trust of his customers and vice versa built on many years of working with them to supply things they need and things they didn't know they needed. |
