"SALE" in French means dirty

I am renaming my position.

I've always been weary of salesman. When I was offered my sales job 9 years ago I wasn't too excited about it. I suppose that salesman stereotypes had perpetuated into the circles that taught me. Nevertheless, there were enough reasons for me to swallow my pride and try it.

Without a thorough synopsis, I will mention a few things I have noticed about the sales folk I've known.

There are those who enter sales as a necessity. They perhaps cant find another job they would enjoy or don't have many marketable skills or they are simply entering a family business and that is the only place to help.

For those getting into the peddling vocation voluntarily they will now choose what type of sales. person to person (P2P) over the phone, door to door, or in a store. Or....(and most of us are guilty of this one) the mlm party. The other main type of sales is business to business (B2B) which is the way I went albeit I do it a little unconventionally. I've chosen to represent 9 different manufacturers now and sell to distribution and retail centres. I also import and distribute a few of my own products. Representing multiple companies gives me excuse to turn down different jobs I have been offered such as product manager and Canadian sales manager. I admit that managing people might have been more appealing than managing a territory but I have good reason to turn these jobs down.

1. They are jobs in the office where I run on a predetermined schedule with set hours.

2. I would be reporting to people.

3. 1 and 2 along with a certain managment style have lead to the quitting of or hospitalization of almost the entire staff of the division.

4. Oh. Another thing. There are alot of undesirable politics when you are inside. Dont get me wrong. I like politics but not what I would consider negative politics such as the fact that no matter what kind of deal you get you cant drive a car with an MSRP less than $5000.00 under the car your manager drives and crap like that. This weekend I have a show in Montreal and they are all staying at the Hilton for $180.00 / night. I found some deals at a downtown montreal hotel that is normally $300.00 / night and I got if for $99.00 with breakfast. This means I will be staying at (and the family is coming for 2 nights with me) a hotel that was rated one of the top 25 places to stay in North America! That ought to rot the company guys socks! I'll be sure to let them know too. Here is a photo:



So far I'm alright where I am AND I enjoy my job.

Being involved with so many different companies, I get to mingle with many different salesman.

SKIP TO HERE

This brings me to the reason I am blogging. If you have read my lengthy seguay you are kind.

The other day I was at a soiree in a downtown Montreal Hotel showing a new line of garage doors when I realized something. Every time a woman would walk through the room EVERY guy would stop what they were doing or saying and stare her bum or her breasts right out of the room. You know when you see that on the old movies where the sailors will whistle as she walks by, that is actually classy compared to this. Then once she had gone the guys would start talking out loud very rude and dirty comments. I had married men making comments that would make a prison guard soap his ears out.

All conversations are about drinking or sex. After work they all go to the strip clubs without variance. This is something I've known for a while but I only now am able to step outside and realize what a pandemic has hit our sales people. It is almost comical to see all of the mens heads turn. Um geeee...... do you think guys get turned on from visual images? I think there is no question. If women understood that well they would try less to be noticed. Having said that, salesman just have no control.

Okay ladies, I'll meet you half way. Undisceplined men are pigs!

In light of the salesman stereotype. The pushyness, the aggressive, the orator and the dishonest and the disrespectful, I am reidentifying (is that even a word?) my profession.

MANUFACTURERS DISTRIBUTION LIASON (thats not bad)

Biography: "Pushing Tin"

I'LL NEVER MEASURE UP

I first learned about sport cut (or fitted) dress shirts about 2 years ago. I became interested in getting one about a year ago and more recently have become feverish about getting many of them. However to this day I still do not own one.

Jennifer and I went down to Syracuse last Friday and Saturday with shopping on our minds. I was keen on getting the aforementioned dress shirts, at least 1 high quality suit and a new pair of basketball shoes. Jennifer needed some of everything.

We went to an outlet mall settlement in Waterloo about 45 minutes west of the 'cuse. It is the same exit off interstate 90 that you would take to go to Peter Witmers farm. The first place I hit was Calvin Klein to get a decent suit but there were only 2 suits my size (48 tall) and they had patterns I didn't like.

Next I went to the Addidas store and they were under construction for another month. From store to store it was either wrong colour merchandise, or more often than not they just didn't have my size or length. Even the Nike outlet didn't have shoes my size in the models I liked.


I came home with a hat and a sweater vest, but oooooooooooo how I do love sweater vests. Even this evening and last night I spent shopping downtown Montreal as I have been doing business here. I hit almost every mens store and shoe store possible here and there is nothing decent in my size. The big and tall shops sell geeeaaaarrrbbbiiiiiiggge too.


Next we rushed into town for the Syracuse orangemen football game. They were playing Buffalo. They won. Jenn was a little nervous that we didn't have tickets but we played some scalpers against each other and ended up with center field 10th row from sideline tickets for 20 bucks each. Turns out they were seats alotted to alumni. The guy we were sitting beside ended up selling them to the scalper that evening because his buddies couldnt come. Whats even better is out of the whole stadium our row was called over the P.A. system and we won free gasoline. It was welcomed as we were on empty and filled up just after leaving the city.

Our hotel was so cheap that Jennifer was scared. It could have been the Hyatt and if Jenn heard I paid $50.00 for it she would have not enjoyed the stay. I say that but......... it turns out she was right as usual. In fact I have to admit that she is always right about my $50.00 hotels. She is a champ though. She pulled out the earplugs to cut the traffic and party noise and dealt with rolling into me on the soft double bed they gave us. It turns out I was the one who didn't get a very good sleep. Thats rare!

The desk clerk at the hotel was good. He was east Indian and a very loud yet jovial man. It made me want to joke with him a little and so I did. It seemed as though he didn't understand my very funny comments when he didn't seem to crack a smile or react to me in any way. Then, just before we said good night he turned to Jenny and said...

" I can see that he is a jolly man. You have a jolly husband. You should thank the Jesus for your jolly husband."

I guess I am funny. I enjoyed being with and conversing with my sweet heart for that day and a half without the usual distractions parents tend to have.

Here is an update on the outhouse. I have actually advanced even further than the pictures would indicate now. I have actually enclosed the entire edifice. Thats right I said edifice because of its grand proportions.

OF COURSE BEHIND EVERY HARD WORKING BUILDER IS A TOUGH FOREMAN THAT LEADS BY EXAMPLE.

I've sinned

I am writing this evening to make penance for my writing omissions.

Here are some of those camp pics I promised:




















I cannot forget the update on my outhouse. The picture is below. I was told I need a permit for it but I am so far into it now I wont even apply on account I might not get it. Besides, you don't need a permit for a shed under 100 sq feet so if worse comes to worse I will just cover the floor (not permanantly of coarse) and convert it to a shed for them. Here is the pic. I think I am about 2 days from completion assuming I will be working those 2 days by myself. It should be finished before the snow flies.

Suivi

About the roof job I quoted.....I got that job AND 3 of his neighbours roofs as well. 4 birds with 1 stone.

Tent poles....... Yes we found the young women's tent poles that the young womens organization wrongfully accused us of having. They were in the young mens closet. If anyone has ever seen the closet they would know that we almost never go in there and therefore could not have been the ones responsible for putting the poles in there. I just blamed it on Derek. He's not here to defend himself and I think it worked.

Karla, our new guest/nanny from Mexico is wonderful. She is an LDS stalwart and a very doting caregiver. I was able to have the apartment painted and recarpeted for her arrival.

Monday night football: It was great. 36 chicken wings in various flavours, a half gallon of ginger ale and a few cups of blue cheese made it an enjoyable game. The possy consisted of Brock McNabb, Dave Anderson, Mike Vadnais, Curtis Christiansen, Tom Booth and myself.

Young mens camp was a blast. We held it in Val-des-Bois. Since I've blogged alot about pooo lately I will spare the gruesome story about how I got my arm pasted with one of our young men's feces. Oops there I go again, it is hard to leave those stories alone completely.

Young mens camp pictures to follow. I am summoning them from Bro. Mines as we speak.