Do you answer your door to strangers? I don’t because I’d rather avoid aggressive door-to-door salespeople who just won’t take no for an answer.
Welcome to the 174th edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a quote of the week. Along with door-to-door salespeople, this week’s edition looks at the next frontier of sustainable aviation fuel, the importance of leg strength in reducing falls, and the mystery of double-yolk eggs.
On my mind this week: The scourge of door-to-door salespeople
Do you answer your door to strangers? I don’t. But contrary to what some politicians want you to believe, it’s not because crime rates are so high that I’m scared of a violent attack. (I’ll save that discussion for another post.) I’m more scared of aggressive door-to-door salespeople who just won’t take no for an answer.
In this column in our local paper, columnist Chuck Brown shares his frustration with persistent visits from salespeople from Rogers. I smiled when I read it because this very topic came up during a recent lunch with my high school friends.
Like me, my friend Doris doesn’t answer her door to unknowns, but an aggressive Rogers salesperson caught her as she was weeding her front garden one day. I might have been tempted to say I was just the hired help. She sent him away but he insisted on coming back.
The worst culprits
When it comes to aggressive sales tactics, telecommunications companies are the worst culprits. I am a Rogers customer and they still call me several times a week—presumably to upsell me on more of their services. I don’t answer when they call.
In recent weeks, Telus has been upgrading telecommunications infrastructure in our neighbourhood. They kindly dropped off a flyer the other day to let us know a Telus representative will be calling on us soon to offer us an exciting deal. Oh goodie. Thanks for the warning. I will be watching for your door-to-door salesperson, and they’ll find there’s nobody home.
I will do anything to avoid talking to someone trying to sell me something or asking for money for a cause. The other day, I saw someone who looked suspiciously like a salesperson walking up my driveway as I was driving down the street. I drove around the block so I wouldn’t have to talk to him.
Don’t call us, we’ll call you!
I have to wonder why companies still do door-to-door sales. Do they actually get any business that way? Personally, I never buy anything or donate money to anyone who shows up at my front door uninvited. There are just too many scams out there.
High pressure sales tactics are as old as the hills. I think we all know someone who was coerced into buying one of those overpriced vacuum cleaners back in the day. And having worked in credit and collections at Encyclopaedia Britannica early in my career, I heard many sob stories from people who were talked into buying something they didn’t want or need.
The old saying “Don’t call us, we’ll call you!” comes to mind. Although my horrible experience switching our Internet service to Rogers last summer proves even that’s not for the faint of heart.
So I’ll preserve my peace of mind by continuing to not answer my door, or my phone, unless I know who’s on the other side and it’s someone I want to talk to. Because whatever you’re selling, I’m not buying.
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Three highlights of the week
It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:
- I’ve given away a lot of stuff from our recent decluttering in the Buy Nothing Group. One lady, who was putting together raffle gift baskets for a fundraiser for FASD, took a whole box of trinkets and figurines off my hands. I love when someone can make good use of things we no longer need.
- It has been a beautiful summer week. I’ve been taking advantage of the late summer weather for longer walks and spending more time on the deck.
- Laura arrived safely in Melbourne on Friday night (early Saturday afternoon in Australia). I think the hardest part of this move for me may be figuring out the time zone differences.
Things I learned this week
Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:
The next frontier of sustainable aviation fuel
Will rising jet fuel prices accelerate the adoption of sustainable aviation fuels? A Brazilian company is investing $3 billion into growing 360,000 acres of macauba palm trees. These trees can produce seven to ten times as much oil per hectare than the soybeans currently used in biofuel production.
We’ll have to wait a while to see results though. The trees won’t bear fruit until 2030.
(Source: Inc.)
Leg strength reduces risk of falls
A Norwegian study stresses the importance of muscle strength in reducing the risk of severe injuries from falls. The study followed 3,000 adults over 80 years old, testing their handgrip strength and how quickly they could stand up from a chair five times.
People classified as having strong leg strength had about a 40% lower adjusted risk of a serious fall injury.
Time to add more squats and lunges to our workouts.
(Source: Lloyd Alter on Substack)
Double-yolk eggs
Double-yolk eggs are apparently quite rare so imagine my surprise when I have had two in the same carton of eggs over the last week. This prompted me to find out more about why this happens.
The Egg Safety Center (yes, that’s really a thing) says this happens when a chicken releases two yolks into the same shell. Double yolks are usually produced by young chickens whose reproductive systems have not fully matured, or from older chickens nearing the end of their egg producing period.
I hear double-yolk eggs are supposed to be lucky. Too bad that luck doesn’t extend to the lottery.
Quote of the week
An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
Henry David Thoreau
I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.
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