The farmers’ market near my old home opens at a fixed time, and if you happen to come a bit early, vendors hesitate to sell you so much as a raspberry beforehand. If they did, they would incur the wrath of their fellow merchants, who worry that if some vendors started to sell before the market officially opened, some customers would come earlier, and an afternoon market could unravel to become an all-day market, requiring the vendors to spend more time selling in a “thinner” market.
