Okay, this blog is getting way too serious. The problem is that I don't really have anything funny to observe of late.
I did succumb to the pitch of a door-to-door salesman yesterday. I bought a magazine subscription for basically the cover price, but my thinking was that I was helping this guy in his effort to work his way out of the "hood" (in his words). The guy was really nice and seemed very honest. We talked for over twenty-minutes, and he answered all of my questions (where are you from, how did you get involved with this organization, what are your plans for the future, tell me about your son, your mom, etc.). The conversation went all over the place really. So in the end, I think I unintentionally took up enough of his time to get my moneys worth.
In the middle of the night, though, I woke up scared. I was terrified that the guy was secretly casing the joint for a robbery. He reminded me a lot of this neighbor I had as a kid who has now, unfortunately, spent more of his life in prison than out of it.
Not that we have anything to steal. I think I proved that point when I paid for the subscription in change. Literally, I was scraping up loose change from any place I thought it might be - couch cushions, junk drawer, the place where Poetroad empties his pockets each night, etc.
Still, it took me over an hour to get back to sleep.
1 week ago
8 comments:
It is serious! But also not mediocre. What is going on!
Serious is OK once in a while. By the way, I now have a policy of never giving to anyone who comes to my door, or buying anything from them either. I got one of those magazine sales a few years back, and the woman made off with the check (or the company was a sham), and I never got my magazine. Instead, now that I'm in the charity biz, I prefer to give to legit organizations that make a difference; part of me thinks that these magazine outfits are really just exploiting people who have no skills other than walking & talking, and their promises of "working your way out" are empty. How far can you really go on door-to-door magazine sales?
you did good, I think.
look I tried to sell GRIT and seeds when I was a kid. That never really worked out for me.
Yeah, I am done with the door-to-door buying I think. It felt right at the moment, but in the end, I don't want to stress about my giving. Anyway, we give to several other legit organizations too, so buying from the door-to-door people is not necessary.
mimi - GRIT?!! GRIT? Do you meaning you actually sold dirt, or was that a magazine you were selling? That's hilarious! I was never a salesman myself. Even the thought of having a lemonade stand as a kid was painful.
My kids are desperate these days to run a store of some kind. The 6-year-old originally wanted to run a restaurant where he could sell chicken nuggets and drinks--juice for the kids, soda for the grownups. I talked him down to a snack bar, and he's decided to sell Snickers and Kit-Kat.
The 9-year-old has drawn a number of comic strips and plans to sell them to people walking by our house. Unfortunately, both of these boys will soon learn the old "location, location, location" rule; we have virtually no one EVER walking past our house.
I encourage them nonetheless.
No, I meant GRIT, the magazine. Look here:
http://www.grit.com/history/
pjd: they should get a website for the comics and take paypay donations.
ooh, that's a good idea. that way they'd learn how to build a web site and then be able to do consulting for real money.
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