Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

From the 50s and 60s to today . . .



Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Men Wanted

This . . .
Will get you this . . .  Maybe . . .
For over twenty years, we ran a family business.Mikey's Music Machine.
We were DJs, specializing in family dances.
We had . . . fun.
Running a family business is wonderful in many respects.
Dealing with telephone solicitors isn't one of them.
With my apologies to anyone reading this who may have 'telephone solicitation' on their resume.
Ahem.
One particularly persistent individual had been on the phone with me for longer than I cared to talk to him.
Which was more than five seconds.
He wanted to sell our company pens.
Pens with 'Mikey's Music Machine' printed in a number of different fonts.
On an even greater selection of backgrounds.
In an attempt to convince me of the need for said pens, his company would guarantee that, by placing an order for a mere 1500 of the rascals, I would receive one of the following:
  • A new car
  • A new, big-screen TV
  • A six-man hot tub.
It was there I stopped him.
“Six-man hot tub?” I said. “Does it come with the men?”
There was a long pause on the other end of the phone.
“Ummm . . . no.”
“Darn,” I said.
Then the unexpected response. “Are you married?”
It was my turn to say, “Ummm . . . yes.”
And his turn to say, “Darn.”
I really don't know what path the conversation had taken, but it was definitely not the one that we had started out on.
Time to get off the phone.
Which I did.
Without my pens.
Yep. Running your own family business.
An eye-opener.
In so many different ways.

18 comments:

  1. Oh, what quick thinkers you BOTH were!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I fell for the six-man hot tub too. You know what? it's good without the men as well! Great post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh! Without the men?! Why didn't I think of that?! :)

      Delete
  3. maybe he was going to volunteer to be one of the six men

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's a natural question, I would think.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I deal with parasites... Excuse me, leeches... Excuse me again, para-leeches. Yeah, that might fit. When they call I just let them talk, put the phone down and leave the room. Works every time. But telemarketers didn't bother me at all compared to those high-pressured college girls trying to sell magazine subscriptions. I actually had to get quite ignorant with them to make them leave. I got a followup questionaire from one of their companies. I told them that I'd never thought about striking a woman until then. And if they sent them in my direction again, I wouldn't be responsible for my actions. Worse than a communicable disease.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eeewww! I've got phonesolicitors! Get 'em off! Get 'em off!!!

      Delete
  6. Hysterical! It's always risky to order men over the phone, though :)!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmmm. I agree. Next time, I want to see the catalog . . .

      Delete
  7. He was ready to deliver the hot tub all by himself!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I bet he had five bear-bellied, unshaven friends! Wait that would be my luck!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hahahahahaha!! Does it come with the men?
    My dad used to ask similar questions of car salesmen...Does the girl come with the car?
    Remember when cars were advertised with a bikini clad girl recling across the bonnet? (hood)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Love it! I'll have to tell my Dad that one - Does it come with the girl? Priceless!

      Delete

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