Thursday Writers Workshop: Worst Salesman Situation Ever

-

 

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 trying to salvage a commission out of the situation by trying to sell me something. Though, if he'd thought it through, he'd would've realized a single, 22 year old girl in a military dorm with no kitchen wasn't the right target market. And I had explained clearly it was my soon-to-be-married room-mate's interest.)
 
So, he came in and we sat on the floor and he spread out his assortment of pots and pans between us, telling me all about the product line.
At the end, I just said told him I wasn't interested in buying anything.
He got in a huff, collected his goods and left.

And that was my first negative sales person experience.

Comments

John Holton said…
I feel kind of bad for the guy, but that was no reason for him to get all huffy...
Apr 7, 2024, 7:25:00 PM

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment!

Popular posts from this blog

Good Eating Monday: Peach Cobbler Dump Cake!

-
Image
Yes, I tried another new Pinterest recipe and this one is a winner! The primary dictionary definition of a "Dump Cake," is an easily made cobbler in which cake mix is dumped over canned fruit or pie filling.  This recipe was pinned from Del Monte, which means it's been a recipe that's been created & tested in a corporate test kitchen. That's one benefit of all those label, can & box recipes provided by manufacturers on their product packaging. You can even buy cookbooks featuring nothing, but package & label recipes of which many are vintage. The only changes I'd suggest is add one more 15 oz can of fruit. It can be more peaches, cherry fruit cocktail, regular fruit cocktail or whatever you want. (So, I've noted 4 cans of peaches in the recipe.)   It just needs a little more volume on the fruit quantity.  And stir a teaspoon or two of cinnamon into the fruit! Otherwise, this is an excellent, quick dessert you can serve hot with v
Read more

Good Eating Monday: Old Fashioned Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding!

-
Image
Welcome to the first week of February! It's supposed to be 31 degrees tonight, so after cleaning up the front walk beds, I went around covering various things that either are blooming, about to bloom or that have sensitive leaf buds, like my hydrangea's.  I picked all the yellow daffodils and brought them inside for a cheerful vase on my counter. For Garden Pic Wednesday this week I have an excellent photo of a pine tree flower! You didn't know pine trees flower?  Well, you'll have to stop back for a look! Today's Good Eating Recipe is a family favorite my Mother used to make often for us as kids: Old Fashioned Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding! What Old Fashioned Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding Looks Like This is just your basic wholesome old fashioned bread pudding made with just eggs, bread, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, sugar & raisins! No sauces to make. Just simple bread pudding. We'd eat it hot with a little evaporated milk poured over the top.
Read more

Writers Prompt Thursday: Cosplay Dress Up

-
Image
  A little known fact about me is I was once was an active member of an Official Star Trek Club.  It was around the spring of 1988. My husband and I were living in Eglin Air Force Base Housing at the time and we saw listed in the personal ads in the Base newspaper that someone was seeking people interested in participating in a Star Trek Club. So, we were immediately interested and called the provided phone number. Turned out it was a couple right there in Base Housing. who only lived a few streets away from us, named Chris & Tammy. We promptly met them and soon we and a few others became regular Club attendees. To become an "Official Chapter of Starfleet," we first had to choose a name for our club, which was considered our "ship," then we registered formally with whoever managed the Trek Club regional chapters in Florida at that time. It had to be a unique name not being used by any other club.  Then we members in order to become "official crew members,&q
Read more

Good Eating Monday: Frosted Banana Bars!

-
Image
Today's Good Eating recipe is one great for using up those bananas that got ripe too fast: Frosted Banana Bars! I don't know about you, but I have stages for bananas:  Stage 1: slightly green to just barely ripe and no spotting on peel: eat plain. Stage 2: more ripe, but not squishy with only a slight amount of spotting on peel: slice on cereal or use in gelatin. Stage 3: squishy ripe and heavily spotted peel: use in baking muffins, quick breads or something.  Now Hubby will eat a Stage 2 banana plain. I won't. But nobody in my house eats Stage 3! This recipe calls for a jelly roll pan, which is either a 10 x 15 or 12 x 17 size baking pan with a 1" high side wall.  I have a couple I use for baking cookies on. They make good cookie sheets, too, so not a waste to have on hand. This is a pass-along recipe given to me by my friend, Paula, who said these bars were popular whenever she took them to a pot-luck. A good picture of what Banana Bars look l
Read more

Thursday Writers Prompt: Radio Memories

-
Image
I grew up in the late 60's and early 70's, graduating in 1975 and back then, if you wanted to listen to music, you either bought records or listened to radio. Then, radio was as vital as cellphones are today for staying in touch with news or music. Everyone had one or more at home, and, if out and about, they could carry hand-size portable radios. Of course, everyone had radio in their cars. In was around 1972 that my Dad gave me a used radio he'd repaired. (Fixing electronics was his profession.) It had a boxy shape and played AM and FM. I was coming into my teenage years and started being more interested in listening to popular radio music.  They're rock classics nowadays, but Top 40 Hits of 1972 I remember well include:  Song Sung Blue by Neil Diamond Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress by the Raspberries Knights in White Satin by The Moody Blues A Horse With No Name by America If Lovin' You is Wrong, I Don't Wanna Be Right by Puttin' Game Down American Pie
Read more