Interstate Popcorn

For me it started years and years ago with a young girl standing on the porch waving a box of thin mint cookies wildly in the air while talking a hundred miles a minute. I thought if I bought a box of cookies it might calm her down.

Ever since then these young entrepreneurs have shown up with cookies, popcorns, tire gauges, coupon books, bastings brushes, magazines, Christmas ornaments, and frozen pastries to name a few of the items they are selling for one fund raisers for another.

Have you ever noticed how polite they are compared to the “adult” sales people in store? Most of the young ones say ‘thank you’ even if you don’t buy something (which for me, is rare).

Another thing, at least around our neighborhood, most of the kids know I’m a pretty easy mark. They know if I don’t buy right away I’ll cave when they start the high-pressure sales tactics.

Well, word is getting out. Just a few days ago, I bought popcorn from a young friend of mine. Not a big deal except he’s a thousand miles away. The sales call went like this:

Me: So, how are you doing?
Young Entrepreneur: Fine.
Me: I hear your selling popcorn.
Young Entrepreneur: Yeah.
Me: So what’s your favorite kind?
Young Entrepreneur: I really like Mud Puddles.
Me: Okay, here’s the deal. I’ll buy a tin of Mud Puddles. You keep the popcorn and I’ll send you a check. Does that sound okay?
Young Entrepreneur: Okay. Thank You.

I’ve never been able to stand up to that kind of pressure.