July 8, 2014
My Instead: I had an
appointment with Bath Fitters to get a free estimate to redo my tub; I ended up
sharing my year's journey of "insteads" and my blogging with Jason,
the representative.
While working at the
Pride Festival in late June, I confronted two reps from Bath Fitters as they
were setting up their booth for the event and asked them about their products.
I expressed an interest in redoing my bathtub and the two of them were so
accommodating while explaining the possibilities of what I could do. They
gave me a brochure and a 20% off coupon and I gave them my contact information.
Several weeks later,
they left a message about setting up an appointment to come out and give me an estimate.
On their second call a few days later, I got the chance to answer. We scheduled
the appointment and on Tuesday, Jason from Bath Fitters was at my door. He was a friendly and
engaging young man…just what I love in a person. We immersed ourselves in “tub”
talk and I listened as he gave his spiel. Then he took some measurements. He
came back out into the kitchen and the real convo commenced…
I had been working on a
blog from an “instead” I had done a couple of days prior (sometimes I get behind). When
he sat down to work up the estimate, I started to give him MY spiel about what
I’ve been doing this year: no drinking alcohol, doing something new “instead”
of the usual stuff I’ve always done, all the blogging and, lastly, writing a
book about it all when 2014 gets put onto the shelf.
Jason seemed interested…or
was he? Let’s just say he was! He did ask questions…that’s usually a good sign
that he was somewhat engaged. What was great is that he became very forthcoming
about what was going on in his life! And I asked him questions…and more
questions. What an exchange!
Funny thing is, I had
every intention of sharing my “stuff” with this Bath Fitter rep before he even
arrived at my home. I was very curious to see if a young man would be open to it. I guess I just wanted to know what face(s) my readers will
have. Will I have more than just the women folk? Can I reach out to both
genders, to young and old, to the rich or the poor and everything in between,
to the married, single, widowed, and divorced? Guess I’m a little bit greedy
when it comes to my reader base. But that is in the future. This is now and
Jason was in my moment. And I was in his. And it was good. One thing I know for
sure…
When Jason arrived, he
was a stranger. When he left, he was a friend. AND…he said he would purchase
one of my books! I said I would sign it for him…another great exchange!
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