Sales Weasels

There are certain types of people I simply dislike... more often than not because they give no weight to the concerns of anybody beyond themselves. In my experience, people in Sales are much more likely to fall into that group. Just to illustrate, let me tell you about a chance encounter at a local mall.

I was at the mall for lunch, and to see if I could track down a key kiosk that I had used long ago... so, while I'm strolling along with more purpose in my gait than usual, a comely young lass in a mobile phone kiosk calls out to me, asking about the shirt I'm wearing (the "Danger, may geek out with no warning" shirt, for those that have seen it), then asks where I got it... then asks about my mobile phone, and my land line, and starts into a sales pitch for her phone. I politely decline, and... she instantly transforms, her eyes going dead, obvioiusly having mentally dismissed me on the spot.

Now, a more experienced sales weasel might have made a more nuanced exit, on the theory that I might come back after thinking about the offer a bit, or might mention the pleasant weasel I met at the mall to one of my friends or coworkers... but in that single instant, the young lady in question illustrated one of two things. Either she had a genuine interest in the shirt and, having found out what she needed, had no further use for polite conversation, so segued directly into sales banter... or she had no interest in the shirt, and started out on the topic as a sales gambit from the beginning. In either case, my reasons for being in the mall were irrelevant to her desire to make a buck, never mind that I had given no sign that I was looking for anything resembling a phone, never mind that I was hurrying along looking for something not in her kiosk.

I know, it seems like a petty thing to be complaining about to the world at large in a blog... but it's one of those petty evils that, left unchecked, could grow into a much bigger evil, like Amway or used car sales... :)