This morning, I drove down to the selected Safeway store to learn the ropes of newspaper selling from the master.

I hung out for a couple hours, during which I mostly watched what he did, occassionally asking questions and taking tips. I would note that his style would not qualify as what I would classify as "high pressure sales", although there were some subtle pressure tactics which may or may not be noticable to the casual observer.

This would be consistent with what the coordinator said yesterday in the sales meeting. "This is not a high pressure, in your face, hard sell operation. Do we use subtle pressure? Yes. If you're doing the job right, most people won't even consciously realize they're being pressured. But they are. We're just nice guys and gals who stand in the front of the store, and want to help our neighbors get in on this great deal."

Tricky stuff. Interesting...

As I watched today, I noticed that my on-site trainer maintained a relatively laid back, relaxed poise. But he did make sure that everybody who walked into the store was aware of his presence. Even as they were walking by, if they ignored or answered the first question ("Want a free paper?") with a negative, he would often try the followup anyway as they wandered by, "Do you get home delivery?"

That said, he was having an absolutely sucky morning. This was the best guy on the sales force, who usually can get over 50 orders in a 2-day work weekend. (For mere mortals, it's considered good if they can break 30 in a week, and that's sometimes working 3 or even 4 days.) This morning, he had pulled a grand total of 3 orders by noon. Horrible.

He explained that it's impossible to know the full range of reasons for things going good or bad. He suspected his rhythm might have been off, due to the fact that he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, and wasn't performing in top condition. (More than one person who's into this has told me that rhythm and timing, even down to the microsecond, are very important. Ultimately, getting that part right is a matter of instinct. It may look simple and mundane, but people can spend years studying, honing, and practicing to perfect their art.)

Another possible reason for the crappy morning could have been the neighborhood around the store. Maybe certain demographics in given areas are more likely to want the paper, or not have it already. Since he had never worked in this store before, he didn't have any previous experiences in the specific area to compare it to.

Or maybe it's just the way the clouds are arranged. Who can know for sure?

One thing that had him concerned was that the ratio of people expressing at least a mildly passing interest was much lower than usual. This sucked for both of us. It obviously sucked for him because he wasn't getting sales. It also sucked for me because I didn't get very many chances to watch him go through the full routine.

However, in rhetrospect, I think that in some regards, witnessing a period when business was crappy was good for me.

For one thing, I now possess a better understanding of what my dad is talking about when he says, "The store where I worked today was just really lousy."

Also, even though it was annoying, it was a lesson in reality. Now that I have seen even the best salesmen spend an entire morning working and getting nothing but crap, I won't feel quite as depressed when it happens to me. Well, maybe I'll still be depressed, but I'll know from this experience that it happens to everybody, and it's just part of the territory. Not the end of the world.

This afternoon, I wandered back to the familiar King Soopers in Boulder, where I worked my shift at the deli. Dull and boring like.

For some reason, I couldn't get the mOBSCENE song out of my head while I worked. (Might this be because as well as being played on the radio in the car frequently, I also subject myself to it regularly at home? Nah.) The chant of the hermaphrodite cheerleaders. I think I almost started mouthing it myself at one point while I was slicing meat.

All together now...

"Be Obscene! Be Be Obscene! Be Obscene baby, and not heard."

Try walking around all day with that line going through your head. Brainwashing at its finest.

There are some things I've told myself I Really Ought To Do next week during the gap between my jobs. One is getting Tobias a wheel alignment as well as an oil change. He's overdue for both. It would be a Good Idea to get that out of the way before I start making regular trips to various stores all around the metro area.

Another: Get my shit in order at mom's place. The room has once again reverted to the state of a full fledged disaster zone. Yes, part of the reason is because I've got more stuff than can really fit in there. But it could be made much better anyway.

It seems like there was something else too, but I can't think of it right now. Oh yes... Financial data. My previously fastidious record keeping habits have regressed into a state of utter slipshod since moving in with my parents. My gnucash file hasn't been updated in months.

(If I may make a comparison, it would seem my financial records have met a similar fate as Jaeger's journals. I can't help but notice that the new entries in both cases seem to stop shortly after each took pseudo-temporary residence with $parental_units. Could it be that this mode of existence has adverse affects on the maintanance of one's personal data, or is it all mere coincidence? All this and more, next on Mysteries and Shady Conspiracies...)

I'm still debating with myself on the proper way to correct situation. It might be more practical to start a new file from scratch, with current balances set to what they are. This would make the past six months nothing more than an electronic black hole in my records. Doh.

Oh well. It seems like there was something else I was planning to do too. I'm sure I'll think of it at some point.

Of course, in the entertainment category, The Animatrix dvd comes out on Tuesday. Yummy.

Oh yes, now I remember the other thing I was planning to set out to do. It is an item that I am, at this very moment, not adhering to.

Given the hours of my new job, it would be most advisable to start moving my sleep schedule back a bit. To the degree that the schedule at my current job allows, I should start getting to bed earlier at night, sleep through the wee hours (instead of tapping at Argo's console), and wake up in the morning.

Then, when it comes time to be IN THE STORE at 8am next Saturday, it won't come as quite as big of a shock to my system.

To that end, I'll be heading out of this zone now.

[Zap]