Rejections are Sometimes Hard to Take December 16, 2012

 

I have been in sales pretty much my whole adult life. Part of selling someone something is also being rejected. You get told ‘No’, quite a bit. A good sales person looks at the ‘No’ as an opportunity to get to ‘Yes’. Rejections are part of the game of sales.  In sales you hope for every one ‘No’ you get two ‘Yes’.

 

I run my own company now, www.haralee.com, sleepwear for women. Some customers will return an item and say they don’t like the style, the color, the fit, the fabric etc., just reject the product. I also get customers who love it all and buy every style we produce.  The old adage “you can’t please everyone” is very correct. Business is full of rejections and I am used to this type of rejection and don’t take it personally.

 

However, lately I have been personally rejected. You would think an old sales pro like myself would have tough enough skin that the rejections would bounce. Not the case!  I have recently been rejected from the following:

 

By a Charity for a Volunteer job

I have worked this same job for 3 of the last 6 years. I spend about 15 hours on the event. This year they rejected me because they reduced the number of people doing the job. I got cut!

 

By my Chiropractor Doctor

She rejected me as her patient because she doesn’t think she can help me any longer. Rejected and depressing, no hope!

 

By a Clinical Study

I volunteered for a clinical drug study on a new osteoarthritis drug. I have arthritis in my knee and spine. I have been in clinical trials before so understand the protocol. They won’t disclose the reason for my rejection but bottom line I was rejected!

 

By a Friend

A very old friend of mine has rejected my friendship. She is trying to start a fresh new life and I am part of and a reminder of her old life. We had no falling out. The expression, “don’t throw out the baby with the bath water” comes to mind.  I am bathwater to her! I am rejected.

 

Not to be all hormonal and feel like I am junior high again but my feelings are hurt by my recent rejections.  I am not looking for pity but just wonder if this has happened to anyone else recently.

Portlandia, Some Truth to the Satire December 11, 2012

If you have seen the show Portlandia on the IFC network, http://www.ifc.com/shows/portlandia, you know it is a spoof of my city, Portland, Oregon. It may make fun of us but of course there is truth in jest.

 

Real Life Portlandia moments:

 

A friend of mine owns a small restaurant and buys lettuce directly from the farmer. The woman who delivers has underarm hair so long that she fashions a hair net when she wear a sleeveless shirt.

 

Urban farmers can raise chickens with-in city limits. Unfortunately as the chickens age they produce fewer eggs. Most friends and neighbors I know have named their chickens and there is no way after their egg producing years are over will these chickens end up as a dinner entre. Businesses have started that will watch your chickens while you are on vacation and foster your chickens until a new home is found in case your love of the chicken raising business wanes. “Put a Bird on it”!

 

My husband carries energy and healing crystals in his trouser pockets.  At his work a new person was about to start working there. She had her Shaman bless the work area. She had the area Fen Shui, and placed a giant crystal in an area.  When my husband met her and commented that he liked the crystal and pulled his crystals out of his pockets, she in turn pulled her crystals from her bra. A very Portlandia moment!

 

My hair salon has neighbor cats that hang out in the salon all day long. They live ½ block down the street and have a remote kitty door opener on their collars so they can go home at any time, but they prefer the salon during the day. In the evening they hang out at the restaurant across the street. The restaurant has supplied them with tags that say they are ‘VIP’.  There are cocktails named after them!

 

Have you watched the show or have you experienced a ‘Portlandia” moment? New season starts in January.