Shady Salesperson

Friday a teenager rang my doorbell.  Usually when kids come to my door they're trying to sell me crap that I don't want, but as I prepared to say "no thanks" he let me know that his motives were not financial.  He told me he was in a group for young entrepreneurs, and as part of an effort to practice speaking in public his assignment was to go door-to-door and introduce himself.

They were having a contest, and if I voted for him it would help him win a trip to Europe.  He was very charismatic, and since entrepreneurship is near and dear to my heart I agreed to vote for him.  I figured he'd then direct me to a website to vote, and he could then begin planing his European vacation.  That's when he informed me that to "vote" I would need to purchase a magazine subscription! Not surprisingly I turned him down.

There will always be individuals and companies that are willing to do anything to make a sale.  This kid tried to dupe me into purchasing a subscription to a magazine I didn't want, and I'm sure his methods worked on plenty of other people.  I'm guessing the kid was duped into believing he has a real shot at winning an all expenses paid trip to Europe (assuming there is a trip) if he can sell more subscriptions than anyone else. 

I hope the kid learns one day that tricking people into buying from you doesn't make you a salesperson; it makes you a con artist.