Saturday, December 21, 2013

Demo Duties 101



December 21, 2013

     The GNC was actually closed when we arrived yet the front door was still unlatched. “Sorry, we are shut!,” came the voice from the back of the register. “That’s okay, we understand, we just have a question, do you have avocado oil?” “No” As we departed, the clerk shouted out “Thank you for being nice! Have a wonderful night.”
     This was our last stop of the night, searching high and low for things like expelled or cold-pressed Caster Oil, Avocado Oil, Sunflower Oil, the ingredients to make some sort of facial wash for holiday gifts.  According to the website, they are common items, found in any grocery store. Sure. The level of anxiety increases as the retail hours draw to a close and Christmas gifts are attended to, after finals week, end-of-Semester performances, work study employment coming to a close before Break and exhaustion has taken over. Santa’s helper wasn’t much of a resource, unfortunately. The “in” I have with the 88 ¾ year old wasn’t particularly helpful in this case, either.
     One must have persistency, consistency, patience, commitment, be willing to sacrifice and yell, scream and cry-out at times, in order to be a creative, spontaneous, have a need for achievement, some pride, and time, to make-your-own goodies for Winter Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, and such.
     Tonight, as I arrived for my wine demo, the Manager commented “I thought you were coming yesterday.”  I could have argued that I spoke to her directly on Monday, giving her an idea of the varietals of product I need to pour, confirmed the time and date, and let her know I am looking forward to selling their full line of Barefoot product. Quite a few customers, whom I nearly tripped-up to get them to sample the Bubbly, gave me the shaft. I was inept and frustrated this evening. Word to the wise, eye contact and a smile to the demo person is always a bonus to us. Even if you don’t try the samples, at least acknowledge we are there, in front of you, and doing our job.
Thank you!

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