It was 1976. I was in the Air Force and living in a dormitory on Offutt AFB in Omaha, Nebraska. I had a room-mate who was engaged and was working on preparing for marriage by accumulating stuff for her future home. She'd decided she wanted to buy pots and pans and she'd somehow found a salesman, who sold door to door kitchenware, who was going to come to our dormitory room to show her pots and pans. She'd made an appointment for him to come around 2 pm. Then abruptly she had to leave. Maybe she got called to duty unexpectedly, but whatever the case, she couldn't be there for the salesman. Since it was the era of landlines and she couldn't call and cancel. I happened to be not working that day. The salesman arrived on time and I explained to that my room-mate, who was interested in the kitchenware, wasn't there. I think he offered to show me his pots and pans, since he'd come all this way and was there anyway. (I wasn't savvy enough to know he was just