Skip to main content

Year Three, Day 334: The Snake Oil Saleswoman

 Today was my get caught up at home day. No Baby Gracie duty. But I get my fix - my daughter text messages me oodles of pictures throughout the day!

I was able to get a couple extra hours sleep this morning, after my usual 4:00 a.m. wake up time.

Then I did my hooping, a load of laundry and headed out for a Grand Slam Breakfast at Denny's.  I tried to make it as healthy as possible:  2 eggs over medium, a slice of ham, gluten free English muffins and grits.  And to drink, I had hot water with lemon.

The cherry on top is that I get 15% off with my AARP card. There are benefits to growing older!






I was still quite sore, but feeling better. My daughter hooked me up to her TENS unit yesterday after I watched Gracie for the morning.  I woke up feeling 75% better than yesterday!

So I decided to keep focusing on feeling well, and crossed SE 82nd to Clackamas Town Center. I walked through Sears to the Reflexology shop. And had a lovely, 30 minute accupressure treatment!

I've had massages with this woman before. She is amazing!  But near the end of the treatment, she said, "You are very tight. You need more time!  You want 1 hour? Or relaxing foot soak and foot treatment?"

I told her thank you, but no. I had to go to work.

I really don't like to be pressured.  If I had the time and money, I would definitely go for an hour!

Well, good thing I was relaxed, because as I was heading out of the mall to the bus stop, a woman approached me from one of the kiosks. I usually avoid eye contact and walk quickly.  I am a sucker for salespeople. I can be talked into almost anything if they are nice!


Which she was, at first. She smiled and said, "For you, beautiful lady", handing a small sample of body lotion.

I smiled in return and reached put to grab the packet. That was my first mistake. Before I could protest, she had me seated on a chair, while she examined the bags under my eyes.

She made a clucking noise. She asked me if I just got off work.

I told her I has just gotten a massage. I'm so glad I shared this with her. It provided me an out a few minutes later.

After she had applied cream to one of my eye bags and shown me the dramatic results in a hand held mirror. She was talking loudly and rapidly. I knew she would be swooping down for the kill soon.

And I knew I could not afford the snake oil she was selling.

So I interrupted her. "How much is the eye serum?" I asked in a sweet, innocent tone.

At which point she told me just for me, today I could get the special eye serum plus a free gift for the low price of...


Wait for it....

$199.00!

Aaaack!

I admit, I was shocked. I silently told myself I would keep my eye bags, thank you very much!

I told her I could not afford it. I had spent all my money on the massage. I silently apologized to God for the white lie.

She kept pushing, but I stood firm.

And then, looking at my phone, I told her I had to run. I felt a little pang of compassion. I thanked her for the demonstration. My one eye really did looked profoundly unbaggy!

I asked if she would be there next week.

"Probably not", she said curtly. "I will be in Las Vegas".

I made my escape at that moment. I walked away quickly. I did not look back.

At the bus stop, I got out my mirror. I had two very different looking eyes. But I was happy. I did not get seduced by the snake oil saleswoman!

I looked up the term "snake oil salesman" and found the following amusing article. Enjoy! But be warned. If you are walking through a mall and a salesperson calls out to you, do not establish direct eye contact. Do not simply walk away.

Run!

https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/26/215761377/a-history-of-snake-oil-salesmen





 Happy Thursday!


Talk to you tomorrow!


Love,

Zita






P.S. Here is today's hooping video. Day 286!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Day 338: Unicorns in the Bible!

I am still working out the kinks in my daily routine. I am going to try practicing piano first today. I find I get so sidetracked that I don't get enough time in, and then I feel stress. I have quite a few performances coming up. Do not need stress!  So, my new daily plan will look something like this:  Wake up Pray Drink water and smoothie Piano practice Exercise Lunch Teach Read Bible and blog in between students Dinner Stretch Pray Bed My daughter and I food prepped last night. We made enough crockpot meals for our family of four for the next 2 to 3 weeks.  We put them in bags and tossed them in the freezer. We have turkey, veggie chili going on right now. Man, does the house smell good! My psalm of the day made me chuckle today. And got me curious about translations.  I read Psalm 29 in my King James Bible. Notice the appearance of the mythical unicorn in verse 6!   Psalm 29 1   Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty,  ...

Year Two, Day 201: "I"

Before my first meeting with "I" I had a wonderful first date last night! We had a lot on common. The conversation flowed easily. We laughed. It was so lovely, that I think I shall not blog about him. Not yet anyway. I am just going to call him "I". I like I. 😉 Today was a long, wonderful family day. Went to church with my daughter and son-in-law. Very powerful, uplifting service. After that we went to the horse races. Had a blast. Broke even. Essentially had a free lunch and four hours of entertainment. After the horses, we had yet another Thanksgiving dinner at my niece's place. It was her first turkey. It was amazing! But thank God I had enough willpower to resist the pie! Tomorrow I go for my first physical therapy appointment. Tuesday it is back to the gym!! Happy Sunday!

Year Three, Day 110: I Like Change, But How Do I Help the Suffering?

I woke up in a bit of a panic this morning. I had planned on getting to the track by 6:30 a.m., because I thought today was the first day of school. You see, the public is not allowed to use the track when school is in session. Understandably so. But alas, I overslept! I still headed out with my hoop, hoping it was before school hours at 7:30 a.m. And I breathed a sigh of relief. The school looked vacant. And only one solitary jogger with her solitary dog was present. I got busy in case the kids were due to arrive. Got a nice hoop workout in. No sign of children as I walked back to the house. So I did what I should have done in advance. I consulted Google. And most happy am I - North Clackamas School District does not start back to school until September 6th! Portland Public Schools start today. But the elementary school next door to the track lists "student hours" as 7:45 - 2:00 p.m. So I really am going to have to get an earlier start next week. I am aiming...