Dude, Shut up!

This is why sales reps often have such a bad name. Why people, who are normally pleasant, become raging rudesters when a telemarketer holds them hostage on the phone.

They refuse to acknowledge that there are instances when it's just a bad time to push their product.

I'm in the barber shop today and a sales guy comes in to sell the owner (who is my, ahem, stylist)credit card processing equipment. My bad, in all fairness, the equipment was FREE. I never heard what part involved money.

It didn't matter to this guy that I'm in the chair and the barber has a pair of sharp scissors and a blade next to my ear - which I'd really like to keep - or that they are several customers chomping at the bit for their turn in the chair. He comes in, elevator speech blazing, and proceeds to chew the barber's ear off about the wonders of electronic processing.

I immediately became testy.

First, I've been looking a bit ragged. It's been weeks since I've had a good cut.

With edits, work and cheer tryouts I haven't had time to get my 'do done. And the one and only day I found to do it, two weeks ago, wasn't my usual day. No surprise, my guy ran very late. After sitting there for an hour, in order to avoid walking into work at high noon, I had to let someone else cut me up.

My husband was not shy about letting me know that the cut was not...err, up to par. I believe his exact words were, "It looks horrible. Never go to anyone other than your regular barber."

Gee, Hon, thanks for not mincing words.

Second, did I mention there were sharp blades pointing near soft, fleshy parts of my head?

Okay, so I'm not really feeling this guy's sales schtick.

To my barber's credit, he let the guy do most of the talking, "um-humming" now and then and dropping several times that he has six other barbers who must pay him. He had mad concern about how he'd get his weekly fee if everything were handled electronically.

Finally, the guy pulls out what apparently was his piece de resistance - a five minute DVD with Terry Bradshaw lauding praise on this company's credit card processing equipment.

Yeah, because Terry Bradshaw (former NFL Quarterback/sometime actor/analyst for Fox Sunday NFL) is an expert on the best way to boost your small businesses revenue via electronic transactions.

Dude, it's called an endorsement. Bradshaw would say this equipment could stop a bullet as long as the check they paid him with didn't bounce.

But, of course, the DVD was a must-see. So he asks my barber if it's cool to play it. My barber um-hums again, never taking his eyes or hands off my head, thank God.

Luckily, I was finished before the DVD was set up.

I'll have to ask Moon if he bothered to buy-in. His one remark to me was that customers indeed come in wanting to use debit cards. So, he had genuine interest in the concept.

I'm sure if he ends up getting it, the sales rep will swear it was the DVD that sold him. Because he came back into the shop with the portable player, once more raving about the DVD and how people are totally sold once they hear Terry Bradshaw endorse the product.

It was all Moon could do not to laugh outright in his face as he said, "I don't really need to see the video. Why don't you just tell me how it works."

But following the script the guy says, "Yeah, but I really love showing this."

Okay, bet, as long as it shuts you up!