For the past several weeks while I am in-between my first and second years in the Journalism program at SAIT, I have been working as a door-to-door marketer for College Pro Painters and I have come to a definite and un-wavering conclusion: the human race is a fascinating species. Since the end of April, for five days a week, six hours a day, I have knocked on more than 2,500 household doors in the Calgary districts of Ranchlands, Hawkwood, Coach Hill, Patterson Heights, Prominence Point and Edgemont.
Every day I attempt to convince my customers that a paint job for anything in or around their houses is in order, and I ask them if they might be interested in a “free estimate” for whatever project they would have in mind.
You would think that it would be easy to give something away for free. However, the good people of Calgary are an honorable bunch, as they are uneasy about taking a free estimate without at least the hint of a follow-through paint job by the hard working painters in my company. At first, I had a certain measure of trepidation about “assaulting” complete strangers to, in essence, commit to a paint job. After a while though, the fear of walking up to a stranger’s house and ringing the doorbell eventually fell away, and I began to thoroughly enjoy the human interaction and the experience that marketing gave me.
Sporting my usual headwear attire, my banded beige fedora, I knocked on a door which produced a man who was a sales representative for what he claimed to be the largest hat company in North America. He invited me in and proceeded to turn the sales table around on me and proudly told me about what kind of hats his company sold, locations, prices, etc. Of course, I was intrigued by the fact that his hat company sold fedoras and I told him that I bought mine at Chapel Hats in Chinook Centre, and that was where he immediately decided to make a sales call to that store and peddle his wares. After our exchange, he signed on for a painting estimate for the wood trim of his house and I was on my merry way; with both of us salesman having gained something positive from each other.
At another house, I came to a long hallway type sub-structure that lead up to the front door, where it was left wide open and I rang the door-bell. Immediately upon coming to this house, I was overwhelmed by the smell of marijuana. The hallway-type structure I stood within, acted as a sort of wind tunnel and I was being blasted by the over-powering smell of that illicit drug from within the house. The woman who answered, was in a quasi-catatonic state and smell of weed was rank on her as well. She was barely able to answer my question regarding a painting estimate. It would have been a hilarious situation if it weren’t so sad, as her dependence on that drug was evident.
Consequently, after I left the house, the pain in my back dissipated.
Throughout the houses I call upon, the overwhelming majority of those who answer the door are female, and 99 per cent of them were very nice to me, whether they said yes or no to an estimate. Some of the women were so lovely and exceedingly attractive, that I nearly forgot my sales pitch when they answered the door. Many of the women who answered were kind enough to invite me in for a quick chat, others were brave enough to offer a little gossip about their neighbours to this strange man who came knocking at their doors. Those many experiences I enjoyed fully, and I greatly appreciated the kindness of those women who made my day a little bit happier by treating me like a human being.
The men who did answer the door, although rare, were equally as enjoyable, as guys talking to other guys brings about a sort of brotherhood-like atmosphere between them. Many quickly accepted my invitation for a painting estimate; others offered tips for which of their neighbours’ houses needed a paint job. And yet others were content to say no, but offered a glimpse into their own lives as if I had been promoted to confidant.
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Hey, it goes with the territory; once in a while, you get a bad apple.
But I would have to say that in all of my travels thus far, there was one woman who stood out as exceptional; and as long as I live, I will never forget this woman. I came up to her house, and there was quite a noise as it does often happen when I ring anyone’s doorbell. The young lady who answered was an amputee; both of her arms were completely missing. When the door opened, I saw her talking on a cordless phone with it lodged between her cheek and shoulder, she was still doing this while she had managed to unlock and open the door with her left foot. As I was dumb-founded anyways with her amazing ability, I gave her a minute to finish her telephone conversation. She then hung up the phone with her tongue, without losing her grip on the phone itself, and while still holding the phone with her shoulder, she asked me what she could do for me. She asked very nicely and politely I might add, amidst the chaos of her household.
Did I mention that she was also a mother of two boys who were standing in the background?
This five foot nothing young lady was the very definition of grace under fire as she had to wrangle those two boys to silence after her phone conversation ended. As I brought myself out of amazement, I gave her my sales pitch. She responded “no”, politely and unflinchingly, and said “goodbye” as she proceeded to close the door and locked it with her left foot while still holding the phone on her cheek and shoulder. After I left her house, I was convinced that I was hallucinating and that I had dreamed such an occurrence; and yet, it had just unfolded before my eyes.
And to think, I was complaining about a sore back?
Walter Nagel, one of my Journalism instructors at SAIT, and a man with a wisdom that is far beyond his advanced years, once said to us, “There’s nothing so interesting as a person’s true story.”
I was fortunate to have landed a job with College Pro Painters that has many parallels to the field of Journalism, the primary attribute being, the discovery of people and their interesting stories.