What not to do when selling someone a newspaper subscription

This email was forwarded to me from a college student in another state… I thought it worth posting… the names have been changed to protect my job (I kid, I kid).

To Whom It May Concern:

I currently live in Springfield, Anystate. I work full time and am a part time student. I just had a gentleman stop by my house to offer me a FREE subscription to the Local Times for this semester and the only I would have to pay for is $.50/week to pay the deliverer. I kindly declined his offer because I am just not interested. I read my news online and I was just not interested in the offer. Here is how our conversation continued:

Seller: But you’re a student, right?

Me: Yes, but I’m just not interested.

Seller: But it is just $.50 a week. Fifty-cents!

Me: Thank you, but no thank you.

Seller: proceeded to share his head, turn to go down the stairs and then whistled (not a cheery tune, mind you, but a whistle that a person does when he just can’t believe something) and then he mumbled something

Me: Excuse me, sir, what did you say? Did you just say that I was retarded?

Seller: No, I said that people around here are retarded. Have a nice day.

Me: Sir!

Seller: Oh, don’t take offense. You’re not the only one. We usually only get 8 out of 10. Have a nice day.

Me: Get a life.

I am NOT impressed!! What kind of person is this? I’m afraid that I don’t even know his name and I’m not even sure if he works directly for you or if he works for the university. Either way, it reflects upon YOU. I just wanted to mention this so that if you knew of who it was you could possibly mention that that kind of service isn’t impressive.

Thank you for your time on this matter.

Sincerely,
Angelina Clinton

Popularity: unranked [?]

More From Joe Murphy's Local Journalism Blog

• Doteasy is a domain registrar that is not worth your trust
• A guide for writing a guide to the content on a news site
• What happens when industries are slow to adopt the internet?

Joe Murphy's Local Journalism Blog Recommends

• How Not To Use Social Media (The Arkayne Blog)
• What to do when bumped from a flight (Flight Blog)
• What do you say when a police officer in a crowded Mexican restaurant comes up to you and says “I’m glad to see other Anglos here”? (Joe, Write!)