Sales Savvy

Today a ten-year old entrepreneur rang the doorbell. To fund his class trip to Washington, D.C. he was selling candy bars. I asked him what kind he had and with a used car salesman sort of spiel he opened his flat box and named the different kinds pointing to each one in turn.

Of course, we bought. Kid will probably be the presidential candidate in 2024.

It brought to mind other fund-raising efforts by school children.

Wrapping paper used to be a big item, rolls of paper with matching bows. I think that went by the wayside as people stuffed gifts into bags at the last minute and creatively positioned a tuft of tissue paper to peek out of the top of the bag.

Candles were my personal un-favorite. Allergic to candle scents, I nonetheless purchased holiday candles in pine, cinnamon, and pumpkin. In the Spring I stocked up on pansy, hyacinth, and lily. I bought, but never understood, the smells of rain and beach, but buy I did (thank goodness re-gifting is now acceptable).

Some high school sport teams sell cookie dough, a tub of ready to bake dough in several flavors. This is good stuff and although there is a warning on the tub that the dough is made with eggs and should not be eaten raw, one digs in with a teaspoon (or if stressed, a tablespoon) and saves the electricity which would be used to bake them in the oven.

Now when the door bell rings I am happy to see who it is. But not in an election year. Every county trustee, commissioner and dog catcher wants to have a face-to-face with every homeowner. I am not impressed and won't be until they start showing up with a box of chocolate chunk cookie dough.

And that's what I think about it.