Leimamo’s Life

No, I didn’t get married or anything. That’s against the law, having two husbands at the same time, isn’t it? Because if it isn’t there are a few car washers that I wouldn’t mind marrying. (Lika knows what I’m talking about)~L~

Anyway, back to the family thingy. Last week my doorbell rang and I thought it was my brother so I answered it. Argh! It was the vacuum salesman. I made up some excuse about not being able to have my carpet shampooed right there and then. Instead, I made an appointment for another day and time. The next day I remembered I already had a manicure appointment that I couldn’t cancel because it was already three weeks since my last visit. So I called and left a message for “Bob” telling him that I’d need to cancel our appointment. When I got back from my manicure, he dropped by a few hours later. It was time for me to start dinner so I told him that I couldn’t do it then either. So once again, I made an appointment for another time.

That time was today at 10:00 a.m. He wowwed me and wooed me with the new Kirby Sentrio. He vacuumed and shampooed my livingroom. He offered me a discount if I could guess the sales price within hundred dollars. My guess was three dollars off the sales price so instead of paying $1,997.00 I could purchase it for $1638.00. WOW! What a deal! Or so he said. I told him that it’s a sweet vacuum but wayyyy too expensive for my taste. He smiled and pondered silently while I combed Barbie make-up streaks into Kamalani’s hair. Then his face lit up and he offered to sell it to me for $1398.00 (dealer’s cost) if I made a $98.00 deposit today. I sighed and told him I’d have to sleep on it because I couldn’t see myself paying that much for a vacuum. He said I could think about it while he shampoos my van. Unbeknownst to him, hubby had already removed the back seats so we could make his shampooing easier. heh heh

He foamed up the back of the van, brushed the hard-to-get-out spots, refoamed, brushed then cleaned up the accessories while I debated whether to purchase the vacuum or not. The poor guy was getting frustrated, I could tell because he told me I reminded him of an Ilocano woman who wanted to pay only $600.00 but her husband ended up paying $1398.00 for it. I didn’t know whether to be offended or be honored that I was being thrifty for once. I remember when I was a young military housewife, these salesmen would take us to the cleaners. It was like someone painted a target on us for these salesmen. I think it’s because they knew we were still trying to impress our husbands with our domestic skills which we felt would be that much better if only we had a $2000.00 vacuum. Well, those days are long gone. It’s not that I don’t like the product, I really do but I just couldn’t get past paying so much for something to clean my carpet with. And remember, it can’t work itself - I’m still going have to operate that thing so the carpet will only be as clean as I clean it.

He finally caved in and told me that he really wanted to make his 15 sales quota and so far all he’s sold for the month was 3. He asked if I thought I might like the Ultimate G Diamond Series. He brought it out so I could compare the two. I preferred the Diamond G (sound like the rice, yeah?). Then his final offer was — are you ready for this???

$865.00 for either model. I told him I’d be right back. I told hubby that I was going to the bank to get the money because you can’t get it any lower than that! At 4:30 p.m. after crossing t’s and dotting i’s, we shook hands and he said, “Welcome to the Kirby Family”.