Making an Exception

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

We have a pretty standard policy in our house that we do not buy stuff on our doorstep.  Now, kids selling fruit for band and the like are not under that policy, but door-to-door salespeople just annoy the stew outta me.  If I want to make a purchase of magazines or cleaners or whatever, I want to do it at my convenience, with ample time to consider my options.

And I'm really put off by the folks who want me to 'vote' for them by buying stuff.

Now, I am not without sympathy for people who are working the best job they could find.  What I have problems with are the manipulative techniques used.  So we just made a policy that we don't buy from door-to-door salespeople. 

So why did I buy a CD ROM of Native American artifacts/historical sites on my front porch a couple of days ago?

The guy even mentioned that he is an out of work programmer/graphics designer when he introduced himself.  Lose points for playing the sympathy card.

But, unless he was lying to me (and I don't think he was), the product he was selling was a result of 8 years of his own work on something that he was passionate about.

He has been researching and photographing Native American sites and artifacts that are all in our area of the country.  With the work that we do with kids, particularly My Sweet Baboo's work with low income boys, I could see the potential for educational use of the disc.  But beyond that, something stirred in me that I really didn't identify at the moment and I surprised myself by giving him ten bucks for a CD....which I haven't even looked at yet.

It wasn't until the next day that I realized what it was that touched my spirit.  He was selling his own dream; something he cared about.

I can identify with that.

Now, I'm not peddling it on doorsteps, but I have a labor of passion that I would like to 'sell' to some folks.  Not exactly for money, but for favor on it.

A script.

And I realized that by seeing his dream and offering my bit of support, I was doing for him what I am praying will be done for me.  Which is why my spirit reacted so quickly to buy the disc, before my conscious mind even processed why.

He was taking a great risk by exposing something dear to him to possible rejection.   I just couldn't stomp on that.

Even if the CD turns out to be pitiful, ten dollars is a small price for encouragement to try.