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User	Webmaster | 2004-08-07 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Thanks. Kept me entertained for a few minutes. I got advantage against those salesman since I’m brown. I just start talking fast in spanish. If it’s a mexican I can use french. I’ve yet to try it on cops though, but it speeds up the process since, "go away" usually doesn’t do the trick. I’ve found, unintentionally, after being interrupted from a meal, that stroking the back of your neck with a sharp looking knife makes and a skeptical annoyed look them stutter. Dunno, I’d never work in that stuff. I hate the concept, but I have much more respect for that than telemarketers.

User	nicelyJ | 2004-08-05 |
Subject	The Rivah (con'd)
Message	On our way back to land, we hopped back across the rocks, Hibbs with his bare feet and me in my sneakers (that didn’t have much grip). What I failed to realize is that there was moss covering parts of some rocks, and wouldn’t I have to jump on moss in my *slick* shoes. I fall in the river, get dragged by the current a little, and watch as one of my sneakers gets ushered further down the river by the current, out of my reach. Someone was kind enough to retrieve that shoe for me, but nobody could retrieve my dignity. I did laugh immediately after, and I wish I could do the story justice.

User	nicelyJ | 2004-06-03 |
Subject	The Tattoo
Message	One night at Creative, the boss decided he wanted us to go back to THE SOUTH SIDE---DUNT DUNT DUNNNNN!!!! "Not the Southside!" I thought to myself. All that I could think of was the KKK, Confederate Flags, and "The South will rise again" (Yeah Right). I sucked it up, and dreaded the whole ride there. It wasn’t so bad. No one pulled out a shotgun on me. I saw nobody with bedsheets and hoods. Thus far, It was "all good". Maybe not all good. I hadn’t gotten a lead all night. Leads are what we called the appointments for free estimates. We were expected to bring back at least three a night(again, yeah right), because "Every one in 2 home-owners plans to do work on their home at some point!" That’s what the boss always said. To make matters worse, every once in a blue moon he would go out with us and get 5 to 10 leads. I think he twisted their arms. Seriously! So I come upon a house with a Confederate flag. I think to myself "What are they gonna do kill me?" So I shut down all fear, and approached the door. A big burly man with a cut off shirt and 25 inch guns(biceps) opens the door. On one of his colossal shoulders was yet another Confederate flag tattooed on his right shoulder. The visions of white hoods, and the chants of "The South Will Rise Again" flashed to my mind. And then came my pitch. There was a bit of a stutter, but it was executed quite well. And then comes his rebuttal. He says "Well, those windows are expensive, and I could just paint these to give them a new look." I give him the spiel about saving on energy and painting. I told him about our financing. What does he say to me? "Sign me up!" I don’t even know if a salesperson ever went out to his house to try to talk him into buying new windows. I know that no windows were ever sold to him, because I would’ve gotten my 1% commission. Sometimes I wonder if maybe he thought the whole company was filled with black people, and maybe he thought setting that appointment was a good way of him and his good ole’ boys ambushing some unsuspecting nig***. But I prefer to believe that the flags on his lawn and on his humungous shoulder were just symbols of true Southern Pride, racism aside. (But then again I’m naive:)

User	nicelyJ | 2004-06-02 |
Subject	Door-2-Door
Message	The Pitch: Hi my name is ___ and I’m a contractor with Creative Energy Corporation of Richmond. We’ve been doing alot of work in this neighborhood(yeah right), we just installed some windows for the Joneses around the corner(bull), and we’re out here offering free estimates. I’ve noticed that you have the old wooden windows, and you could be saving lots of money on energy bills and painting, by replacing those with our dual panel vinyl windows. So what day can I sign you up for? Canvassing(going door2door): I was like the postman. Through 100 degree hear,rain, snow, or hail I was out there. Day after day, door after door. Rejection after ... Ok I think you’ve gotten the picture now. It got real old, but not real fast. It took about 5 months of going back to the same neighborhoods , and having the same doors slammed in my face, and having someone send their dog after me, before I started getting tired of the job. Initially I loved it, though I was terrified my first 2 weeks. I was such an introvert, and this was the perfect opportunity for me to break out of my shell. I actually stayed for a year which seemed like forever, and I dreaded my last 4 or more months, but I did have some good times. Good Times(Brief Summary): Well the boss didn’t go out door to door with us once we became experience. Therefore, there were many nights that we decided not to go to a repeat neighborhood. It is so much fun getting payed to hang out at Taco Bell or at someone’s apartment playing playstation. "On Saturdays we would work from 10am until 2pm. One Saturday during Summer, it was just me and Hibbs. He decided he wanted to work on his tan, so we went to the Rivah. That’s what we call the James River here in Richmond. Anyway, we napped out on oversized Rivah-rocks. His tan didn’t work out too well, because he got burned. I don’t burn easily due to the melanin in my skin(but that’s a whole ’nother story). To be Continued