Boy, I hate to tell people no. A young man came to the front door tonight and asked me if I would like to have one room of my carpet cleaned for free. Sam barked at him. Good boy Sam.
I really hated to tell the young man no. He was polite, shy, clean shaven, and talked with a foreign accent. He appeared to be trying to make a few bucks by shilling for some vacuum cleaner company. I couldn’t help feeling bad for him because maybe he’s having a hard time making a living in this country. Maybe his family is depending on him. But I’ve been down this road before, so I said no. Kathleen and I are not in the market for a new vacuum cleaner.
But I stewed for hours after telling that young man that I wasn’t interested in whatever he had to offer, agonizing over him. I almost wished I could have invited him in for a cup of coffee and an hour or two of conversation about his family and his life. When we parted I might have wished him well and pressed a few bucks into his hands. I’ve walked in his shoes myself, pounding the pavement door to door, trying to earn some money, trying not to let the rejection get to me. People have such a distrust of door-to-door salespeople. But some aren’t bad.
We’ve had many door-to-door salespeople come here; most of the time I tell them I’m not interested in what they’re offering. But occasionally somebody gets through my defenses. This spring I hired a couple of door-to-door salesmen to apply moss killer to our roof. Their price was very good and they did an excellent job. If they come around next spring I’ll hire them again. I also hired a lawn care company whose salesman came to the door, to fertilize our yard. I’ll have that company back again too.
But I got ripped off by a meat salesman who came to my door last summer. The meat was way too expensive and was not very good. Stupid me for falling for his line about needing to get rid of a box of meat because a buyer had backed out of the deal and the salesman didn’t want to return to his warehouse without selling his last box. He could let me have it for a heckuva price he said. He let me have it all right. I deserve getting sucker punched because I didn’t step back and think for a minute.
The salespeople who come to the front door in halter tops and bikini bottoms are sometimes really hard to resist too. My goodness, a cute young thing came to the door one day selling some orange liquid glass cleaner. She offered to clean a couple of my windows for free. I almost let her clean my glasses after gawking at her ample bosom and sexy svelte legs (old goat) I was having a hard time seeing clearly. A similar thing happened a few weeks earlier when two you women showed up, scantily clad, to sell me another floor cleaning; one of them was even barefoot.
I have a hard time saying no to Sam and Kathleen too. Just call me an old softy. I’d levy a bag of poop on myself for being too soft hearted, but my personal mantra for many years now has been, “Be kind, give hope.” I like me better that way.
I really hated to tell the young man no. He was polite, shy, clean shaven, and talked with a foreign accent. He appeared to be trying to make a few bucks by shilling for some vacuum cleaner company. I couldn’t help feeling bad for him because maybe he’s having a hard time making a living in this country. Maybe his family is depending on him. But I’ve been down this road before, so I said no. Kathleen and I are not in the market for a new vacuum cleaner.
But I stewed for hours after telling that young man that I wasn’t interested in whatever he had to offer, agonizing over him. I almost wished I could have invited him in for a cup of coffee and an hour or two of conversation about his family and his life. When we parted I might have wished him well and pressed a few bucks into his hands. I’ve walked in his shoes myself, pounding the pavement door to door, trying to earn some money, trying not to let the rejection get to me. People have such a distrust of door-to-door salespeople. But some aren’t bad.
We’ve had many door-to-door salespeople come here; most of the time I tell them I’m not interested in what they’re offering. But occasionally somebody gets through my defenses. This spring I hired a couple of door-to-door salesmen to apply moss killer to our roof. Their price was very good and they did an excellent job. If they come around next spring I’ll hire them again. I also hired a lawn care company whose salesman came to the door, to fertilize our yard. I’ll have that company back again too.
But I got ripped off by a meat salesman who came to my door last summer. The meat was way too expensive and was not very good. Stupid me for falling for his line about needing to get rid of a box of meat because a buyer had backed out of the deal and the salesman didn’t want to return to his warehouse without selling his last box. He could let me have it for a heckuva price he said. He let me have it all right. I deserve getting sucker punched because I didn’t step back and think for a minute.
The salespeople who come to the front door in halter tops and bikini bottoms are sometimes really hard to resist too. My goodness, a cute young thing came to the door one day selling some orange liquid glass cleaner. She offered to clean a couple of my windows for free. I almost let her clean my glasses after gawking at her ample bosom and sexy svelte legs (old goat) I was having a hard time seeing clearly. A similar thing happened a few weeks earlier when two you women showed up, scantily clad, to sell me another floor cleaning; one of them was even barefoot.
I have a hard time saying no to Sam and Kathleen too. Just call me an old softy. I’d levy a bag of poop on myself for being too soft hearted, but my personal mantra for many years now has been, “Be kind, give hope.” I like me better that way.
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