The Traveling Saleswoman

I do enjoy getting back to a regular schedule of home parties after the lull that often occurs in late December and early January.  People  seem reluctant to book around the holidays and immediately after the New Year.  But I get rusty if I  too long between parties.  They are much easier to do when you maintain a consistent schedule and don’t have to recreate the wheel with your display or demonstration each time.

The added bonus is that regular parties give me lots of blog-worthy material.  I’m almost spoilt for choice after this week’s events.  I could write about how I rang the wrong doorbell, because my GPS told me, “You have reached your destination” and I couldn’t see the house number.  It turned out that the actual house I needed was a quarter mile away!  Or I could tell you how mid-way through my spiel, two heavy products fell off my display and clonked me on the head.  Or how I got the shock of my life on the way home late at night, when it turned out I was being followed by a police car that suddenly turned on its lights and siren and passed me at great speed, causing me to nearly swerve off the quiet country road in shock.

But instead I’m going to talk about dogs.  Now, I should state that I am not a dog owner.  I bear them no ill will, but I am not really an animal lover.  But it amazes me the lengths my customers will go to in order to accommodate pets.  At one recent party, there was a new puppy who was extremely curious.  I am not kidding when I tell you that the owner must have said, “Down!” at least 200 times over the course of the evening.  All her guests (including one with two replacement knees) had to climb over gates to get in and out of the family room when they wanted food or drink – the gates were to keep the puppy in the kitchen.  At one point a beer bottle cap went flying and the puppy promptly ate it, and there was much wrangling required to get the dog to spit it out.  I swear, it was more work than having a baby.

At the other end of the spectrum, another house I visited recently had a dog in a diaper.  I’m guessing illness or age had rendered the poor thing incontinent.  It wore a velcroed piece of material fastened around its tail with a removable pad inside. Maybe it’s a common accessory, but I’d never seen this before.  I can only admire a person’s devotion to their pet that they would be willing to deal with such an unpleasant and frequent task as changing that.

However, it always amazes me when I go to homes where the owners are fastidious about housecleaning and cleanliness, yet seem oblivious to the pet hair being shaken everywhere.  I washed every item of clothing when I got home, yet I’m still picking dog hair off things!