The reluctant snake-oil salesman

My father, in his retirement, has learned to be a coppersmith and has been traveling to various art festivals selling his wares. Especially popular are a copper bracelet he makes. Here is a portion of a recent Facebook post (mild editing and formatting, mine):

Quote:

Customer: "Will the copper help with my arthritis?" Me: "There is no science to support that!" Customer: "Can you put magnets on the copper cuffs?" Me: "Sure." Customer: "My aunt/grandmother/cousin wore copper cuffs all the time and she said it helped her." Me: "Well, we live in Missouri, the State of Walt Disney. Wishing can make it so. Cash or Credit?" I lost count of how many times I had that conversation over the last two weeks. They usually bought a cuff! I guess we were poor, my grandmother just kept pennies in her shoes.

And a comment from one of my friends:

Quote:

I love that you're raking in snake oil dollars with a firm, "There is no science to support that!"

I kinda want to be my dad when I grow up: ethical enough to completely honest, but not ethical enough to stop people from giving me their money for stupid reasons.

via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/2yLhhpu