Sunday, November 29, 2009

Up against the wall............. you criminal!

One of the many things that I enjoy in life south of the border is the freedom. For some reason, there is more freedom to make an ass of your self here than NOB.

Up there , someone will protect you.
Or the ACLU will file a lawsuit seeing untold millions for making you feel bad, especially if you fail at something.

In Mexico life is filled with failure.
Life is also filled with success.
What a concept.

When I was growing up, I remember the Fuller Brush Man, coming to our door, ringing the bell and coming into the house, unfolding his specially designed suitcase, where he miraculously had hundreds of items to show my mother.

Well, to me a kid they looked like hundreds of items, there probably were only 30 or so.

Before he left, even if my mother would not purchase anything, he would always give her a gift or something. Usually it was a blond handled yellow round scrub brush.

The salesman would politely then pack his case and leave, maybe coming back in a year or so.
The only other people that would come to the door was the garbage man, who once a month would come and collect the money for the garbage service.

Today I read, on my online edition of USA Today that Door to Door Salesman are having the doors slammed in their face by municipalities enacting ordinances which will require background checks and permit fees .

The US Supreme Court has ruled that going door to door to communicate a message is a First Amendment right.......

One of the many nice things in Mexico are the door to door sales man. Updated to be the door to door salesman who drives a truck and actually delivers something to you.

There's the Gas man, there is the Knife Sharpener, There is the Fruit and Vegetable Truck, in some smaller communities I have seen a mobile Carneceria.

Don't for get the milkman and ice cream man.

But NOB they are harnessing door to door activities......

Pretty soon you will not be able to go next door for a cup of sugar.
Freedom slipping through the cracks.

What would Red Skelton do ?

10 comments:

Bob Mrotek said...

Tancho,
My Ma was visited by that same Fuller brush man. Man, how that guy got around...just like Santa! The thing that I liked about it is that he was always very polite, was in and out in fifteen minutes, always left a gift (the same little scrub brush) and we kids were fascinated by him. I think my Ma bought something from him every other time just to make sure that he kept coming back. He kept at it until he retired and then there was none. Thanks for the memory. By the way, Red Skelton would smile and say "May Gawd Bless". Remember?

- Mexican Trailrunner said...

Your Fuller Brush man was Red Skelton? Wow. That's pretty impressive.
We didn't get Fuller Brush men in Hawaii. Maybe there was a Kalanianaole Brush man. . .I don't remember one tho.
Red Skelton had a young son who was terminally ill with leukemia and before he died they took him around the world. When they stopped in Hawaii, I had the good fortune to take him horseback riding. Thanks for the memories.

Bob Mrotek said...

Mexican Trailrunner,

"Thanks for the memories" was Bob Hope's line. Are you related? :)

Tancho said...

It was a treat to get to stay up and watch the Red Skelton show. I don't know about you Bob, but my parents didn't let us stay up and watch tv all the time. If I remember it was on at 9 o'clock was the only show I could watch already dress in my PJ's before going to bed. He had one of the wholesome shows that always had great entertainment, even in't it's final days.
Trailrunner...if you want memories, take a look at my other blog. http://asthingsusetobe.blogspot.com/
It is my melancholy rants of what I think was a more quiet and peaceful time....
But that's only my opinion.

Bob Mrotek said...

Tancho,
Your other blog is great! I didn't even know about it. Suggestion...you should put your "follower" widget up at the top of the page on your blog if you want more followers. If you need help just ask Don Cuevas. He knows how :)

Steve Cotton said...

I want to stick in my oar, as well. Great memories. The Fuller Brush man even made it to our little mountain town of Powers. Red Skelton was a luxury I would not experience until we moved to the Land of Television Signals. I was laughing at his Elizabeth Taylor jokes before I realized why they were funny.

Don Cuevas said...

You guys! Wallowing in nostalgia.

My wife was a Fuller Brush Saleswoman for a week or two, in Overland Park, KS.
That's it!

Bob, Tancho is very technologically adept. He doesn't need me to explain how to place the Follower Widget. I need him to manage my online Celebrity Food Writer personality web site.

Saludos,
Don Cuevas

Michael Dickson said...

My last wife sold high-end, Swedish vacuum cleaners door to door for a while in San Antonio. Job didn´t last long, but she bought one for herself. 500 freaking bucks. Probably was the company´s intention in the first place.

One Small Voz said...

Tancho, Talking about freedom slipping through the cracks, I recently read about a man in the US being arrested for being naked in his own home! Apparently he woke up at 4:30am to make coffee and a woman saw through his windows and called the police, and then arrested. I told this story to my Mexican friends and they just laugh and shake their heads. Can you imagine that happening in Mexico? Ha!

Tancho said...

Gee sounds like there has been a lot of vocations starting with door to door sales...

Leah, One can never compreheand how things have changed NOB.
Pretty soon it will be against the law to speak out on something, oh wait, it is!
It now can be classified as hate speech if someone doesn't like what you have to say....strange.