Fuenteovejuna did it

When somebody hands you something, the natural thing is to reach out and take it.

With a flyer, it’s not too bad, because it can be tossed away easily. As part of a sales pitch, it’s harder. Once it’s in hand, the sale is half made. Odds go way up. The sales person then has leverage.

It tried this once on a liquid miracle cleaner person at the door. They kept pushing the bottle at my hand during the talk, tapping against it a couple of times. I kept my arms limp at my sides. Then they tapped my stomach with the bottle getting frustrated and saying, “will you just hold the damned product?”

We were both surprised and started laughing about it. I bought some just for the fun of the encounter and the strange charm of the salesperson.

The miracle cleaner was average but had a fresh exciting scent.

I write this to be funny, but there is some truth, or at least background, to it.

I’d like to go to Cuba again, this time to go cycling in Havana and birding in the countryside (as well as some side political learning, etc.). There are groups there that can be contacted to arrange both in advance.

I suspect that one could just show up in Havana, mention these, and within the hour, something would materialize. A van would pull up, “get in for the birding trip!”

This feeling comes from our trips to Cancun where there is a travel agency almost on every block. You could walk into any of them, mention anything from a car rental to a trip around the world, and they’d whip it up. “Trip around the world? Come back in an hour. Bring your luggage.” lol. Tourism is serious business there. There are degrees available in it.

We walked into a travel agency in Cancun one time and mentioned wanting a rental car. In FIVE MINUTES, a car screeches up, the driver gets out and holds the door open.

I said, “well, that took entirely too long!”

I’m guessing this is ’80s when I was still a compulsive smoker. This was at Pride, either Raleigh or Carrboro, I don’t remember which.

I’m with Allen, long time coworker and friend.

I tried to never let anybody photograph me smoking. When I died, I didn’t want people saying, “well he had it coming.”

(Image is me and friend seated on ground with me getting a light.)