Wet People WANT to be Sold Dry Cleaning
Surprise! It’s me!
Yes. I realize that, as surprises go, my re-appearance on my own blog is not going to rival any of the really big ones, like Scary Spice making babies with Eddie Murphy or Ellen getting hitched to that bird from Ally McBeal, but I have been away a little while and I’ve missed you.
That’s why I brought you cake.
Let there be cake!
So what’s up? How’ve you been?
I see the talented and beautiful Coach Kalpna has been taking good care of you in my absence.
(And if you missed it, you’ll probably want to read her wonderfully-crafted article on how to screw up your personal branding. Then, after you’re suitably impressed with that then you’ll might want to read this article about dealing with worry on her blog.)
Now, in my absence, thousands of emails arrived in my email box in the past week.* And it has been the same question every time. Rabid fans, hungry for some JJ wisdom, have been asking this question in droves. It’s the same question I get every thursday night when chess club overruns and I return home at three in the morning in a drunken stupor with an octopus around my neck…**
Where on earth have you been, JJ?
I’ve been up a mountain.***
That’s right.
Sometimes a man needs to climb a mountain.
As it happens, that man was not me but a friend. Sometimes an unforeseen emotional and spiritual crisis strikes and the only logical course of action is to embark upon an ill-prepared camping trip up a mountain in the Lake District.
If this here blog were more literary in nature then I would wax poetic about the rugged landscapes, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mists encircling the mountain tops…
But I like to talk about learning here. So please allow me to describe…
Three lessons learned atop an English mountain in the rain
1. The only Zen you’ll find on the Top of the mountain is the Zen you bring up there
Okay. This isn’t exactly a learning of my own.
It’s a quote I lifted from Robert M. Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. (Great book, by the way.)
Makes me sound wise though, I reckon.
Next…
2. When your Dad tells you “Look Son. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about hiking it’s to put all your belongings in a bin bag (refuse sack) inside your rucksack if it starts raining, otherwise all your stuff will get wet, and not having dry stuff to put on when you’re wet isn’t much fun” and you think “that’s a good idea, but I probably won’t do it because it sounds like a lot of effort and my stuff probably won’t get THAT wet” then you really should ignore that thought and just do what your Dad suggested anyway, otherwise you’ll end up with a load of wet stuff that makes you feel sad.
Which brings us onto…
3. When someone limps into your hotel, soaking wet, carrying a rucksack with tent attached, they probably won’t mind being sold to.
This is the bit in which I appear less than heroic. But also the bit in which I make a semi-relevant point about marketing.
As it turns out, you see, it wasn’t really camping weather. If the wind had abated awhile then we might have had a fighting chance of getting the tent up, but it wouldn’t have stayed attached to the ground for long.
At least that’s the story I told myself as I craved a nice warm bath and a beer in the hotel in the nearby village.
So, with tent on back, we headed back down the mountain in the pouring rain towards the village.
Now it also turns out that my left knee isn’t really a walking-down-mountains kind of knee. In fact, it’s more of a crunch-and-grind-and-make-me-grimace-and-scream-with-every-step kind of knee. (Yes, I am a true athlete.)
So when I arrived at the hotel in agony, cold and soaking wet, I would have gladly liquidated the children’s college fund (if such a thing were to exist) to pay for a room in that hotel.
The receptionist was an angel. She reassured me that:
“Yes, I do indeed have rooms free. And here’s a room key. Why don’t you go have a nice warm bath and then we can check you in properly when you’re warm and relaxed? And if you leave your rucksack here we can get your clothes dried for you and up to your room within the hour. And would you like a table for dinner? You don’t look like you want to be walking very far.”
I happily said Yes to all of the above and gladly paid an extortionate amount of money for the service, but I would never have asked for it because my focus was simply on sliding into that lovely warm bath water.
Sometimes someone wants what you provide so much that they are thankful when you try to sell it to them. This is especially true when they haven’t yet realized that they would want it.
This might be worth thinking about next time you worry about “up-selling” or being “a pushy salesperson”.
Just sayin’.
JJ Jalopy.
* This might not, you know, actually be true.
** This entire paragraph may exist only because I think I’m funny and not, in fact, as a result of its resemblance to the truth.
*** This bit, and the rest of the post, really is true. Honest.
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Comment by David Wood
21 August 2009
This made me laugh out loud.
You’re hilarious JJ!
David Wood´s last blog ..When Women Resist Appreciation
Comment by Pa
21 August 2009
I’m not the kind of guy to say, ‘I told you so’, but………………………….
Comment by Suzie
21 August 2009
Sounds like one of those trips you come home from a wiser person
Glad you are back safe and almost sound! (Have you tried Bowen Therapy? Could help with your knee).
Oh,like you, I get crabby too, but am very grateful to actually notice it these days lol.
Suzie´s last blog ..Feeling Bliss
Comment by John Ho
22 August 2009
JJ,
Great point!
Under the right context, set-up or combination of factors, “selling” becomes more like “want to be sold”. In selling, “pull” is definitely much easier than “push”.
(Wow, what a CLUMSY expression, even if it can be understood. It’s not Chinese English, but it is also certainly not Australian English too!)
Being I’m too tired now. Yes, what a handy excuse!
John Ho
Comment by JJ Jalopy
25 August 2009
@John – I get you John. Thanks for the comment.
@Suzie –
@Pa – Yep. One day I shall heed your excellent advice…
Comment by Darryl Pace
28 August 2009
JJ,
That made me laugh out loud (the part about you knee). Good to have you back and blogging, safe and sound.
Health, Fitness — Darryl Pace
Fitness Product Review
Darryl Pace´s last blog ..Hard versus Easy Cardio
Comment by Anthony Lemme
30 August 2009
You need a new knee and a waterproof backpack! Sound like that was one amazing bath!
Anthony
Anthony Lemme´s last blog ..10 Tips To Become A Super-Productive Entrepreneur
Comment by Over 50 Singles Boomer Dating
3 September 2009
Hi JJ,
I LOVE hiking, and actually cite that in MY online dating profiles, so that was a hoot indeed. Now my important question is, did you wear the SIGNATURE JJ Jalopy chapeau WHILE you were hiking? Pix man, we want PIX of you in your hiking gear, man!
Ok, and on a serious note. When you mentioned the soaking wet sot, while it was an hysterically funny image, it also prompted me to think of my bereaved widows and widowers bereavement counseling clients who come to me with my relationship expertise and being a certified Grief Recovery Specialist. Since I’ve had 7 deaths in 6 yrs plus the certification, a lot of them are drawn to me because I walk the walk and have been on that path where they are.
And they are soaking wet. Namely, their hearts are bleeding. So, yes, when they walk in – email me, phone me, PLEASE YES sell them to do the workshop with me either one-on-one or in a group when those are available. Because they are soaking wet… namely, their hearts are bleeding. Don’t leave them there the same as when they came in!
Happy Dating and Relationships,
April Braswell
Single Baby Boomer Dating Success Expert
Widows Grief Support Group Bereavement Counseling Pet Bereavement Orange County, Costa Mesa Fountain Valley Huntington Beach, CA
Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Orange County, Website Marketing, Web Design, SEO, Social Media Marketing
Comment by Lisa McLellan
18 September 2009
You certainly have a humorous point of view! I enjoyed the visual that went with this “When someone limps into your hotel, soaking wet, carrying a rucksack with tent attached, they probably won’t mind being sold to.” Poor soul!
Lisa McLellan
Babysitting Services – Babysitters and Nannies