My mother raised
me to be polite at all times. There were certain mores of behaviour that she
instilled in me, and I guess they stuck pretty well, because I still cling to
them today, sometimes even in the face of unbelievable
circumstance.
For example,
when mom and I would go to my aunt and uncle's for dinner, I wasn't expected to
just help with the after dinner clean up. I was expected to do it all—by
myself.
Likewise,
growing up, if I was a guest in anyone's home for dinner, and they served
something I really didn't like, too bad for me. I was expected to eat it and
say, "yum yum, thank you."
Maybe you could
class that as a white lie, but I don't think there's any real sin involved in
that one.
We lived out in
a rural community all through my youth, the same one my beloved and I moved to
after our first year of marriage. You didn't often get any "traveling salesmen".
Oh, they came by once in a while, but not often.
Even as I kid I
got a kick out of the Fuller Brush man. He always had some little do-dad he
would leave behind, even if you said "no, thank you".
As a matter of
fact, I recall when it was acceptable to say "no thank you" to the peddler at
the door, and their response would inevitably be, "thank you for your time, have
a nice day".
Not, apparently,
anymore.
Lately there has
been a new breed of "traveling salesman" prowling our neighborhood. These are
young, brash, hard-sell engineers who not only don't take "no" for an answer,
they're rude.
And not only are
they rude, they are pushy and try to intimate you. One man I particularly recall
from a couple of years ago came to the door, wanting me to sign up with an
"energy re-distributer". Do you get them in your area?
Now, if the
electricity rates had doubled when we got our "smart meters" -
that is to say, if we were the kind of people to ignore the "peak periods" and
use our a/c, our washer and our dryer at those times—then maybe, and I mean
maybe, one of those contracts might have saved us a few
dollars.
But I am leery,
on principal, of anyone who wants you to sign on the dotted line right away. As
if they know that if you have a moment to think things over, you'll see reason
and say: no, thank you.
So
I told this gentleman, "no, thank you", oh, probably about four or five times at
least. Despite the fact that my anger was increasing I didn't slam the door in
his face or tell him to take, um, a flying leap. I was still trying, you see, to
be polite.
However, this
particular gentleman pulled out what he must have thought was his "big gun
argument". Now please keep in mind, I am dressed very casually around the house
most days, when I am writing. My hair is caught up, haphazardly in a clip; I'm
decently covered, but I am wearing jammies—long ones in the winter, short ones
in the summer, but jammies for me are my "business apparel" of
choice.
This would-be
salesman of the year looked me up and down, and said, "Perhaps you're just too
stupid to understand what I'm saying to you."
Now friends,
there does come a moment, and I am certain my mother, rest her soul, would
agree, when it is time to abandon that which clearly does not
work.
So I said,
"Actually, I probably would score well above you on any IQ test you'd care to
name. Moreover, I'm a published author, and, congratulations, you've earned a
spot in my next novel as the obnoxious itinerate asshole."
Well, perhaps my
mother wouldn't quite approve of my language, but I did feel ever so much better
when I then shut the door in his face.
Love,
The only dream I've ever had was to be a published author. It was a dream formed in childhood, and held on to through the business of growing up. Life intruded, as life does, and my dream was put on hold. But now, through hard work, faith, and luck dream has evolved into reality.
Romance is a wonderful genre that accommodates every other. Comedy, mystery, paranormal, suspense, or science fiction, romance embraces them all. Erotic romance gives all of that, and so much more.
For readers who want all the best traditional romance has to offer – great characters, compelling stories and a happy ending – and who crave that extra bit of heat – I invite you to read one of my novels and let me know what you think!
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