A little off-topic, but the "nice idiot" routine definitely works: Admit you are possibly in the wrong, but still would like whatever it is you need. Even if yo

A little off-topic, but the "nice idiot" routine definitely works: Admit you are possibly in the wrong, but still would like whatever it is you need. Even if you don't immediately receive what you want, doing this a few times in a fixed location (like an apothecary) will quickly give you good rapport with all the folks that work there. After that point you can be certain folks will try to help you a bit more proactively than they otherwise might.