Let’s just say the folks hawking shiny metal asses at Sams Club refuse to take no for an answer, shall we? And they have rivet guns.
There’s somebody like this who prowls the Best Buy near where I live. Next time, try telling the guy that your neighbor has a giant tree that blocks the southern sky from your roof.
And blow!! Don’t forget the blow.
Why do people feel an obligation to engage with these kind of salepeople? They are not your friends, or coworkers, or people you have asked to do a job for you. Just because someone talks at you doesn’t mean you have to let them waste your time pissing in your ear about the Vegomatic.
Nothing bad will happen if you keep walking and say “no thanks” or ignore them entirely. They will not hurt you, they won’t call the cops or get a lawyer, they won’t yell insults*, or even make faces at you. They will just start talking to the next person. It’s their job. Devoting energy to addressing people’s backsides will not help a salesman put bread on the table.
Seriously, what are they going to do to a nice lady with a walker? Your wife could shout “Eat cock, motherfucker!” and the salesman would still come off as the bad guy if he did anything but meekly accept it as part of his profession. What’s he going to do? Follow her around, mocking her?
Annoying kiosk salesmen rely on a low-level bending of the social contract to make a living. They bother strangers in a way that is impolitely intrusive, but not really worth fighting over. Treat them with the same courtesy they extend to you, which is to say, very little.
*Hawkers/barkers who work outdoors in tourist or nightlife areas are an exception. They will insult you, in a way that keeps them in the right, legally, if you decide to haul off and belt them. If it bothers you that much, just count to ten and think about what kind of douchebag loser can only find work flapping his gums outside a titty bar or selling shitty t-shirts.
But that’s precisely it - they are playing on that desire of people not to be rude. It takes some effort, and not a little personal stress, to ignore or brush them off. I’m probably not alone in having mastered a sort of smile-past-them response that requires little thought and no conscious engagement, but there’s a flash of tension and irritation every time you realize you’ve come into their capture zone.
Our choice is to try to be polite, which means engaging them, which gives them the win - sometimes all the way to making the sale - or forcing ourselves to be deliberately rude to someone who has simply said a variation of “Hello” to us. It’s a lose-lose proposition for all but the self-declared hardasses among us.
One of our local gas stations has those annoying ad-playing TV screens that come on while you pump gas. Even more annoyingly, they haven’t updated the video in YEARS. Last time I was there, they were still playing ads for the upcoming Smurf movie.
I avoid that station whenever possible.
I’m going to have to politely disagree. Stress? Effort? Are most people really that bothered by salemen? Does one really have to be a self-declared hardass (which I assume is a type of internet tough guy) to brush them off?
How often does one get caught by surprise by one of these guys, anyway? Nametag, logo shirt, standing next to sales materials or a bigass display or a blender, and most importantly-bothering other people before you get into range. They’re not exactly stealthy. “Look a salesman” “IGNORE”. Simple.
I just don’t see the disingenuous “Can I ask you a question?” type of salespitch opening to be be a “variation of Hello”. It’s inherently dishonest to pretend to engage in a normal conversation as a way of snaring slow thinking or overly polite people into a pitch. Why is it rude to say “no thanks” to an obvious liar and keep on doing whatever you’re doing.
Don’t get me wrong, I loathe the fuckers, along with other intrusive but legal shitstains like canvasers and door to door guys, but the kiosk guys are like seagulls, ignore them.
To look at it another way: those guys who twirls signs for furniture stores or whatever really want to get your attention, is at rude or stressful to not stop and read the whole sign?
Sign-twirlers aren’t trying to engage you personally.
Happy to agree to disagree, but I do maintain there’s a level of personal discomfort and stress to rebuff someone who’s addressing you fairly politely. I’m not saying it’s shrieking mental agony hell, but even as someone who can throw a pretty damned good shell around hisself, I find tension in having to pass a series of these Nice People Trying To Say Hi while rejecting all engagement.
Agreed. Good day to you sir. In keeping with Pit protocol: shitfire goddamn.
Agree with you on the gas pump one, but for one saving grace: Interspersed with the annoying ads (at least at the stations where I’ve seen them), they also show weather reports telling me what to expect in the next few hours or next few days.
Especially when I’m on the road out of town, those are actually helpful to pay attention to.
I agree that there’s a certain level of “confrontation” involved, and it’s uncomfortable. But I (try to) look at the positive aspect of this: When this happens, it gives me an opportunity to practice being a jerk and being comfortable about it!
See, one of my life-long fantasies that I’ve never been entirely and consistently successful at is the valuable skill of being a jerk as needed. Of course, one wishes to have enough control to be able to turn this on or off at will. After all, I don’t want to get all my SDMB socks banned!
I’ve just always been too meek and mild-mannered, Clark-Kent-like, to be comfortable being an overtly rude asshole even when I wish to be. I see this as a serious life skillz failure. So every worthwhile chance to practice should be seen as an opportunity to be seized!
Well, all of the above aside, if I have encountered pushy floorwalkers while in a less kindly mood - e.g., the same Dish Network guy who has braced me twice a week for the last month, while hurrying through an urgent run to Sam’s for something… I have a really impressive Hellboy growl I can muster. Backs 'em RIGHT up.
That’s what I do, too.
But I’ve trained my cats* by using a spray from a bottle of water and a stern-voiced “No! Bad kitty!” when they do something wrong. Would this work on these pushy salesman?
*No, not really. But I did try for a while, until I realized that their patience outlasted mine. I wonder if ‘training cats’ is ever more than a fable.
I simply turn a sunny smile on these types—it makes a fine annoying-person-repellent/shield for my mind—and keep walking. Painless.
No your don’t. You’re ugly face backs them up.
Truly, your lighting blue wit slays me. i am dying egypt dying
Update:
I just noticed that some of the outside salespeople at Sam’s are on the schedule of “Club Events” on the Sam’s web page for the local store.
So now I can PLAN to head over there to see such amazing sights as “Amazing Whip It Cleaner”, “Pure Energy Bands”, “Cling Sweep”, “Style House/Massager Show” and my favorite, “Cocktails In A Bag”! Whoo hoo!
I should go when the “Massager Show” is in town (6/19-6/30, in case you want to buy plane tickets) and see if it’s the same kind of massagers sold down the street at the Flynt Adult Store.
That would make for an… interesting shopping trip with the kids :eek:
Nah. You could just tell the saledroids to buzz off.
Well, your screen name’s certainly Truth in Advertising, isn’t it?