Random thought thread!

When it’s my daughter, I’ll be having her go around and do her own selling. She’ll work with the money, make small talk, and do it all herself – it’ll be something for her to be proud of.

When it’s not my daughter, and I’m just trying to buy some cookies, I’m taking the path of least resistance. Sometimes, that means having an overcompetitive mother swipe my card in the grocery store parking lot while her daughter is nowhere to be seen. I’m aware of the double standard.

Never Amway, but plenty of school fundraisers and the girl scout cookies. I never minded because I never felt pressured. I’ve always thought pushing kids to go out and sell stuff is dumb. What exactly do they learn? I did it a bit as a kid and I don’t feel like I learned anything, other than it’s a pain in the ass. Maybe that’s it – teach 'em to value education or else they’ll be door-knockers someday trying to sell siding.

Some day ask me about the time a girlfriend brought me to an Objectivist meeting! C’mon people, keep topping. Let’s see how far we can go!

Some day ask me why I got thrown out of the Cub Scouts.

For eating a brownie?

I had a guy I went to high school with do that to me.

Have I ever told you guys about that one time at band camp?

oh did i tell that story before

Guess who was the first person to voice the Joker in a Batman cartoon?

Larry Storch?

Yep.


I once had the sound off when The Three Stooges came on TV.
Turns out those Three Stooges shows are even more funny without sound. You can basically understand everything they’re saying just because of their expressions and physical motions.

It’s been too many years than I care to admit but how to deal with no is a good one. The number of times you ask someone if they would like to buy some Girl Scout cookies to the number of times you actually hear a yes is pretty large. I think it’s important for kids to encounter rejection but still continue on. Because of the ages involved, this might be the first time they handle real life money frequently. In the age of credit cards, maybe not that important as it was but it’s still kind of neat as a young girl to realize it’s not as difficult as it seems. Responsibility… outside of the store sales, the selling part is only step 1, now you have the delivery. Early on you have goal setting, like how many you intend to sell. Year 1 the parents kind of take that on but 2 and 3 the scout might start realizing, her own, how to up that number.

I mean there are lots of things you can learn dependent on the adults involve but learning to face rejection I think is a huge one. The first few times it happens it can be shocking to some but after that… just like any sales position, you realize not to give up.

Not to mention responsibility, commitment, etc.

I would vote without hesitation for any political candidate who promised to hunt down and kill (I would settle for prosecute, but the heart wants what it wants) the assholes that are responsible for my cell phone getting 4 to 5 robo-calls per day.

If they follow up with ruthless extermination of public bathroom seat pissers and shitters, I’m onboard.

Hell yes. If I’m really desperate, and need to use (as in sit down on) a toilet that’s been horribly messed up, I’ll actually take a few minutes and wet down several paper towels (or even toilet paper if no towels are available) and clean the entire seat, along with most of the bowl, before I sit down on it, all the while thinking, “What kind of a pig actually does this kind of thing?” And these pigs aren’t rare, either. I think they’re the rule rather than the exception, as I run into this in most public facilities. I wonder if they do this at home as well.

The restroom at work usually has a disturbingly amount of liquid all over the floor by lunchtime. It’s pretty disgusting. And the smell…the smell.

Me too. Ever just finish the process and you’re throwing out the paper towels that you used to dry the seat, and someone else takes the stall? I was really annoyed, but what could I say without sounding like a weirdo?

What need for words? Your words for him are spoken in the universal tongue of violence.