Three questions before posting

A young man in Amman sells refurbished tablets to parents of schoolchildren, and late one night he is writing the words for his next advert.

The first draft comes easily. Like new. The best price in the city. Parents are rushing to buy before term starts. It sounds like every other advert he has scrolled past, which is partly why it was so easy to write.

Then he reads it again with three plain questions in mind.

Is it true? Not quite. The tablets are clean and work well, but a careful buyer will find a faint scratch on some of them. He has not checked every price in the city. Nobody is rushing. A handful of parents have asked.

Is it useful, or at least necessary? A parent deciding at the end of a long day wants to know how long the battery lasts, whether there is a guarantee, and what happens if it breaks in the second week. None of that is in the draft.

Is it kind, or at least harmless? Pushing an anxious parent with a false deadline before school starts is a small unkindness, but it is still one.

The second draft is shorter and less exciting. Tested and cleaned, with light marks on some. Six months of cover. Here is what to do if something goes wrong. It will not stop anyone mid-scroll the way the first one might.

It will, however, still be standing after the first customer opens the box. Advertising that passes all three questions is rarely the loudest in the feed. It is the kind a seller never has to apologise for, and it makes an honest starting point for almost anything said in public.