The New and Improved

It was not yet noon when Andy waved good bye to his mother and little sister and walked out his front door with his regional map in his breast pocket and a black Fuller Brush Company case held in his hand.

“Hello!” Andy said to the little woman at the first house. “My name is Andrew Wall with the Fuller Brush Company!” The woman was peaking out through the curtains of her side window, and never came to the door even after Andy rang numerous times.

The second house wasn't much better, the third a no-go, the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth—nobody seemed impressed. The ninth house told him to never come back again, and the tenth house had a man in it that said through the mail slot in the door that he was calling the police.

Andy was back home by 12:34.

He ate a baloney sandwich and drank a glass of milk and it was back to the salt-mines.

“Yes, Madam, I represent the Fuller Brush Com--” Slam.

“Hello, my dear lady, I rep--” Slam.

Two more houses and Andy was back home again. It was 1:15 and Andy was firmly in the belief that he had made a disastrous career move.

He was hot, and he was tired, and he was thoroughly dejected. But Andrew Wall had one idea of how to save his career. He had walked with his little sister many times (at his mother's insistence) selling Girl Scout Cookies. Vera sold the hell out of those Girl Scout Cookies and Andy had been more than impressed with his little sister's professional demeanor as well as her seemingly effortless people skills.

“Want to come with me and sell these brushes?” he asked his little sister.

Vera allowed that there was very little on this earth she would rather do than walk through the Pasadena smog selling Fuller Brushes with her big brother!

Andy told her what to say and when to say it and walked with Vera up to the first house with Vera carting the case and he the clip board. They rang the bell. They waited. Vera had been well schooled to say, “Hello Sir/Madam may I interest you in one of our fine products manufactured by the Fuller Brush Company?” An elderly woman answered the door and looked at Andy and his little sister with a semi-smile on her face.

Vera said, “Hello, Madam want to buy a brush?”

It was not at all what Andy and she had practiced on the way over, but much to both their wonder, it worked. The woman bought a mop, a dust pan, a broom with the new deluxe no shed plastic fibers, as well as an easy-hang toilet disinfectant with applicator included. Andy stood there while his little sister marked off the proper squares and got the woman's name, address, telephone number and Visa card. They both had a cookie and a glass of milk and they were out the door and on to the next house where---Vera used the woman's name from the previous sale as an introduction, and asked with genuine interest, “You want to buy a brush?” This time Vera sold a broom, a mop, and an easy-hang toilet disinfectant with applicator included, and a squeegee that somehow made cleaning windows a delight.

House after house they went with Vera asking, “You want to buy a brush?” and house after house, it was “Brush, what kind of brush? Oh, goodness me, that is a lovely brush, and yes I do believe I need a brush and, well, now you mention it, I could use a toilet-bowl disinfectant or two!”

The next day, Andrew just waited in the car listening to the radio while Vera carried the case and the clipboard up the driveways to the houses. If anybody was home, they bought, and if they weren't home Vera came up with a bright idea of leaving a note that said “Brushes for Sale call Vera” with her phone number included, all in crayon. Andy wasn't sure if it was the catchy slogan, or the crayon, but the next day they had to back track to reach all the houses of all the people that weren't home from the day before but called inquiring earnestly about what kind of brushes, and did she have any mops, and many sincerely seemed pleased with the new and improved Ceiling Minder for all those pesky hard to reach places that Vera so highly recommended.

Andy let the big dog run.

By the end of the week Andy and Vera split up the profits 50-50. The profit from that first week alone was twelve hundred and thirty two dollars each, plus change which was more than enough money in both their minds to last the entire summer. Besides that, Vera was leaving for summer camp in four days, and there was no way Andy was going to do this without her, so he quit.

874 Words