Hope Springs Eternal – part the first

Maybe it’s just me, but does anyone else have trouble saying “no” to things?  Like salespeople?  Special offers?  Manatee adoptions?

Okay, the manatee thing was only that one time, but the other stuff is constant.  It’s like I send out a “Gullible Fool” signal. In flashing neon. It’s hard for me to balance being open and hopeful with not being a complete idiot.

For example, a few weeks ago, a lovely woman came by selling cleaning fluid.  I said no, but she didn’t listen.  Being the hard-nosed person that I am, pretty soon I had invited her in and we were chatting about our kids.   She was actually a lot of fun, but finally – just so she’d leave – I bought a $40.00 bottle of cleaning fluid.  Considering the dilution factor, I’m pretty sure it’s not as bad as it sounds, except for the fact that I don’t need it, and I’ll never use it because I’d have to learn calculus just to figure out the fluid/water ratio.

I wrote the purchase off as a learning experience, and started practicing a routine where I open the door, say, “No, thank you very much; have a nice day,” and then firmly close the door.  I’ve run through it several times now, and I can probably pull it off with the next salesperson.  Unfortunately, my timing on the practice sessions hasn’t been so hot, and I’ve now scared away three Girl Scouts, the Avon lady, and the mail carrier. 

But hey, we don’t really need the cookies, I’m going to wrinkle no matter what lotion I buy, and the mail would have been bills anyway, right?

 Tune in next week for Part B of Hope Springing – Eternally