What my first job taught me

Welcome back to my page, you awesome people! I am honored that you would wish to come back to this corner of the blogosphere to see what I have in store.

 Today, I will speak on one of my beginnings. Some paths have since diverged, but I still have transferable gifts from those paths that I can use just about anywhere. Let me get to it, or this post will end up being very long.

 My beginnings as a  worker-

 At the age of 13, I was gainfully employed by the local paper. It was not as a paperboy, a position in which I held the highest esteem, because the video game bearing the same title was one of my favorites. No, I was the door-to-door salesman.

 Back then, the paper didn't cost as much as it did these days, so it was fairly easy to persuade people to get it. The paper I sold was printed and delivered three times a week and only cost around fifteen dollars for a whole year's worth. That was a great deal, even then. I had no trouble selling in the affluent sections of the suburbs.

 The challenge came in convincing people to take up the rag in the urban and rural areas around my town. I had a way to sell to everyone, for example:

 Potential Customer(PC)-"I'm sorry, strapping young lad, but I can't afford it."

 Me- "I can understand that, sir. You can afford a vehicle, I see."

 PC- "Yes, but what does that have to do with me not taking the paper?"

 Me- "If you were to fill your gas tank 3 times*, then drive around the city, you still wouldn't find out as much information in a day that we would be providing you for a full year."

 PC- "Since you put it that way, I can see how this is a great deal. Sign me up."

 Then there were those that I would have to sell by employing showmanship. A popular television commercial in that area was pretty annoying to me, but it was something that everyone else seemed to have loved . A tiny guy in a cowboy hat would have someone off-screen toss him a product from the left side of the screen, and would talk about it, then toss it to the right side. He would then catch another from the left, and so on. I used this same technique with different sections of the paper, and it had the desired effect. People would instantly see that my imitation of the commercial guy was good and they'd get to laughing. Once I had them giggling at my antics, I knew it was an easy sale after that.

 That job taught me some valuable lessons. I learned to consider a persons needs versus my wants. If I really knew that a person would be making their children go without if they bought from me, I'd botch the sale. There weren't too many of those, so I'd usually make up for them at the next house.

 It was also a lesson in courage. I was a very shy child, and this job helped me climb out of my shell to approach strangers. Taking those steps have helped me immensely, although I am still shy in some situations.

 My first job was one of many, and has helped me gain the experience I need to relate to my fellow humans.

 What was your first job?

*way back in the day when five bucks would  fill your tank, I know, I'm ancient.

Have most of a tasty burger on me!