Why I Should be in Sales

Now, I'm not going to tell you that I can sell a freezer to an Eskimo.  I'm not sure I'm THAT GOOD at sales.  But today's experience found me walking away rather pleased with myself, and it reminded me of another experience I had a few years ago, (which I'll tell about another time).

The truth is, I AM in sales already, selling cute, fuzzy, cuddly puppies, but I was thinking that there must be a job out there that pays BIG bucks for the skills that I have.  I was at the pool today, visiting with some friends, when it was finally time to head home.  I had to stop by the feed store to check to see if any of my 3 kittens were still there, as I would need to bring them home with me.  I was really hoping they would all be gone, the last of 6 unexpected kittens that were born in our garage attic.

The feed store is the place to go to get a kitten.  Everybody around here knows that if you need a barn cat, or a cute, sweet house cat, the first place to check is the feed store.  They also know that if you are trying to get rid of cats or kittens, you can leave them for the day at the feed store, and hope when you come back later, your cat or kitten has been taken to live in some one's home or barn.  So that is where I was today, crossing my fingers and hoping all my kittens were gone.

As I pulled up and parked, I saw out of the corner of my eye little orange ears.  I couldn't be sure if I saw one or two sets of ears, and when I got out of the car, I could see there was just one of my kittens left in the pen.  Ahh, 2 had found homes, and now there was just one.  It was a cute little light orange kitty, that we found out was a female, after one of the farm store workers, who was the master cat sexer, told us.  This particular kitten was not happy in her pen alone, and was crawling up the sides trying to find her escape.  I REALLY didn't want to bring her home to be alone in the crate I have here (otherwise she'll disappear into the woods, become #10 or #11 barn cat that we have around here...I've lost count), so I began plotting how I could find someone to take her.

So, I stood in front of the store, next to the cats, in my innocent white skirt, and navy tank top, and smiled at each person as they came from their vehicles and asked them, "Did you come here today to choose a kitten?"  I refrained from batting my eyes (I wasn't that desperate, and really don't have those type of flirting skills anyway), but I smiled sweetly at each person and tried to engage them in conversation regarding the benefits of a new kitten.  Pretty soon a young guy, probably in his 20's came up the steps and I asked him my question.  He said no, he wasn't here to find a kitten, and I told him about my desire to find a home for this last little creature. 

Then a store worker came out asking if the kittens were males or females (that's when the other store worker came and worked his kitten sexing magic), and said he had a lady on the phone asking and wanting barn cats.  I told him to really promote the ORANGE kitten, and also tell the kind woman that there was a lady out front (me) with several adult barn cats if she needed any more than a couple of kittens.  I was working every angle I could as we would be very happy to just have the ONE spayed female that we actually like.  I guess he went back to talk with the lady and returned to tell me she was coming to look at them and would talk to me if I was still here.

During this time, I was still engaging each newcomer to the store with my happy question about why they had come today, and engaged yet another lady in the discussion about my kitten.  THEN, the next thing I knew, the young guy, who apparently had made a quick phone call to his wife, said he'd take my kitten!  SCORE!  I then talked him into getting the grey kitten as well so they would have companions, and helped him plop both kittens into the box, close the lid, and send him on his way.

This guy, when I originally talked with him, hadn't come for a kitten, and then he left with 2 of them!!  Now before anyone gets upset with me, forcing people to take an animal when they didn't really want one, he did tell me that they had been talking about getting a kitten, so it wasn't a completely impulsive decision on his part. 

The main point of my story is that I wasn't going to leave with that last kitten, and planned to stand there, engaging people, promoting my sweet kitten, until I found it a good home.  I figure there must be a job out there in the corporate world that needs those types of skills, and maybe I could actually get paid for my perseverance and communication skills!!

I also learned that there is a cat spay/neuter clinic that comes through town and will alter these little creatures for $15 each.  I'll definitely be calling that number, 635-MEOW, so we can solve our abundant cat problem.  In the past, whenever I've had a cat fixed (except the Calico female that we like), they have always disappeared, and my $60-75 investment disappeared as well, leaving me very discouraged.  At $15, I'm willing to take the risk.  When you live in the country, cats seem to be sort of disposable, not due to carelessness, but simply because if they live outdoors, it's not always safe.  But in spite of that, ours seem to have beat the odds and are reproducing faster than we can deal with them.  But not anymore!!