You see a notification pop up from social media. It’s your best friend Sara from fourth grade. She wants to connect! Sure, you haven’t chatted with her since 1992 when big bangs and New Kids On The Block were all the fad.
Still. It’s Sara! Your BFF. Of course, you want to catch up. Plus, you want to see if her bangs have calmed down a bit. So you hit that accept button. The next morning, Sara has reached out to you. She’s going to be back home next weekend.
“Let’s meet for coffee and French fries!”
Perfect. You’ve been wanting (needing) time away from the kids and your job and your busy life. Coffee and fries it is.
But on Saturday morning, after hugs and small talk, Sara proceeds to tell you all about her direct sales company and how you should join her.
Annoying, right? You just wanted some down time. Some time away from stress. And your old BFF is trying to convince you to join some pyramid company to sell some product you’ll never use.
Please tell me this has happened to you. Because, this has happened to me. Twice. But it wasn’t Sara. And it wasn’t French fries (although now I really want a basket of those puppies with lots of honey on top).
Before you throw away the other half of that BFF necklace, I need you to hear me out.
Sara (insert whatever name you need in this situation) actually deserves your respect.
Yes, Sara should have been honest with you. Yes, there are some really shady people out there who just want to sell you crap and don’t care about your feelings.
But, the majority of people selling leggings, or candles or some kind of cookie sheet that costs as much as your first car, are really good people.
And guess what? They just want to support their family while doing something they love.
The majority of these women want to make a few bucks to go on that family vacation, or pay off a bill, or buy a cup of coffee, you know? They just want to take pride in something they believe in. It takes guts for these women to reach out to you. It takes courage to talk about something you probably don’t care about.
Some of these women? The ones who can really go after it and swallow their pride and show their passion? You better believe they are making good money doing something they love.
Instead of unfriending Sara and talking behind her back at your next social gathering, just be honest with her. Tell her you would love to meet for coffee, but you’ll never buy the product she is selling. Or, tell her you would love to meet for coffee and you would be happy to hear her sales pitch (what great practice!) but you’ll never buy her products. Or, tell her you want to meet for coffee and you might just buy that face cream because you have dark spots on your chin and they bother you.
What a thought, right? Honesty. Just be honest. She’ll either respect you or think you suck.
Either way, your time and her time isn’t wasted, you know?
Women need to be more supportive of one another. When we build each other up, we can accomplish great things.
I truly believe that.
Am I going to buy your product? Probably not. Do I respect you for trying to sell it to me? Yes. And I wish you all the luck in the world.
Now, let’s go get that basket of fries.