My wife sells insurance products to businesses, which sometimes requires in-person “cold calls.”
She stopped in to a business today and asked the woman at the desk if she might speak with the manager.
“Didn’t you see the sign?” the woman asked.
“No. What did it say?”
“‘No Solicitators.'”
Did I mention that at least one of the people in this conversation is not a native English speaker?
“I’m not a solicitator,” my wife said. “I’m here to help your business.”
Happy ending: She did get an appointment to speak with the manager, but she was still unhappy about one thing.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe she called me a solicitator . . .”
Reminds me of an old solicitation joke.
The sales manager wanted old Joe to tell the group why he sold more Bibles than anyone else. Especially since Joe was a terrible stutterer.
Joe stands up and says.”W-w-w-well, it’s like th-th-th-this. I kn-kn-kn on the d-d-door, and when it opens, I just s-s-s-s-say that I am selling B-B-B-Bibles. They can either b-b-b-b-buy one, or I will r-r-r-r-read it to them.”
I think I like this joke cuz I grew up with a terrible stuttering problem too…
GL —
When you put it that way, the word “solicitation” does connote, to me anyway, that you’re selling something other than insurance products, which may be why my wife was so unhappy about it . . .
Paul…probably so. Even though I am no longer an up and down the street sales guy, I always cringe a bit when I see that “no solicitators” sign. One always has to be nice to those copier sales guys and gals…and insurance reps too…they could be your kid someday.
I would be offended that they call them Solicitators, and no just simply Solicitors. That extra syllable is maddening…
The word “solicitator” is funny to me but I don’t think it’s a real word. Like I said, my wife’s not a native English speaker so sometimes words get a little garbled.