BAD Salesman, NO Bonus!

SOOOO, ok, picture this:

You are working the showroom of your local motorcycle dealership when in walks a family- the whole lot of 'em- husband, wife, three children in tow. This isn't park day, they're looking for something. They have out of state tags. They wander around your showroom for a good twenty-five minutes and nobody says so much as "hello" to them. The small children are getting antsy. The husband is eyeing certain bikes with great interest. He keeps trying to get someone's attention.

Finally, as the wife and the three children make their third lap around the outside of the building (because of the sign on the door that says "all children under the age of 21 must be carried", and since the stay is growing longer by the minute, she is trying fervently to prevent the utter chaos that is just begging to erupt with the children and the bikes and the tipping and the... well, the husband must REALLY want to be there and she must REALLY be OK with it, ya know), the husband approaches a salesman and says to him, (are you ready?):

"I'm an rider from years ago. I haven't been able to ride for a long time, well, (motions to the expanding family) as you can see. *smile* However, I've just graduated from college, have a good job and am looking to start rebuilding my motorcycle collection."

What would you do, if you were this salesman? Well, call the guy who works at Velocity in Richmond, VA and fill him in on how to handle a situation like this!

For those who aren't familiar w/ sales, let me brief you here, on what you would call, to use the auto sales vernacular, "an easy lay"-

*We had the checkbook in hand.
*The woman was there (which is, like, rule #2 on vehicle sales protocol- get the woman in there b/c even if it's his vehicle, it's her yay or nay you're gonna need).
*We had driven two and a half hours to this particular shop.
*The man knew his stuff and asked specifics about specific bikes- he knew what he wanted.
*AND YOU HAD IT!

HELLO? Tell me I'm not the only one who feels there is no reason for a sale not to have taken place there today! For the love of God, a little interest, a microscopic bit of enthusiasm and we'd have come home today with a great BMW or a really nice Dukati. Zorak saw one of each that he'd have been happy to bring home. TODAY.

Pffttt. Entrepreneurial apathy is what's killing our economy, not the war efforts, not the French and their attitude toward us- it's our own stupid laziness. C'mon, people!

Yeah, Zorak was disappointed, too. Any information he managed to get out of the guy was due to direct questioning, but if the man had so much as offered information on financing options (he might've made an even bigger sale than the cash one we had in mind), or what it'd cost out the door. Nah, why bother? By the time we left, it was out of absolute frustration. We don't want to have to beg someone to take our money. We'll go elsewhere and do it with less irritation and frustration.

*****

Then, to assuage the boys' frustrations over being in an unfriendly, cramped and uncomfortably warm environment for almost an hour (not to mention the 2.5 hrs in the car), we took them to the Richmond Children's Museum. It was a great time, but let's be honest- this isn't a museum. It is a romper room of gigantic proportions, and it's loads of fun for little guys, but it is more along the lines of the ultimate Montessori classroom than it is a museum. Lots to do, overly expensive for what it offers ($7 a head for all persons over the age of 1!), and very interesting. On a scale of 1-10, with five being totally ambivalent toward it, I'd give it a sliding scale score: 4 if we lived there, but 6 since we had a 2.5 hour drive home and the kids had already been cooped up far too long! Glad we went.

*****

Yesterday was spent at the Naval Air Museum. Now THAT is a museum. It's small, but wonderful when you are three and five! There are hands-on exhibits, but it also has a much more educational atmosphere and no Romper Room Effect! (Not that we have a disdain for Romper Room, but there's a time and a place....)

Tomorrow it's off to the Hydromont Berry Farm to pick strawberries and check out civil war weaponry. There is nothing quite like a wonderful day of food and firearms to make this family happy!

****

In miscellaneous things,
*We have definitely nailed down one of James' allergens: clover. We had another "eye episode" tonight right after he, in his five year old glee, "fluffed" a bunch of clover blooms into his face. Ewww. Thank God for Benadryl and OTC drugs!
*James would also like to know why "such ridiculous laws such as mandatory seatbelt use ever got passed in a free country"! (Ha, me, too, kiddo, me, too.)
*John sang along with most of the Math-U-See tape today on the drive home. He is learning so much and having such a great time of it.
*Jacob is a great (and I do mean great) traveller! Woo-Hoo! His teeth are getting closer to the surface (oh, that looks painful) and he definitely loves wheat-free ginger spice cookies!
*We tried a wheat-free doughnut recipe today. It doesn't make great doughnuts, but would be a WONDERFUL coating for sweet and sour chicken! Good stuff. Not that the boys cared- we told them it was doughnuts, covered the stuff with glaze and Voila! happy children.

OK, well, I am hoping to call Gram tonight. My phone battery died and it's just not charging quickly enough. I'm going to go find Zorak's phone and give her a ring before she heads to bed. Have a great night, all!

Dy