Larry, the Kirby Guy

Interesting little story . . . .

Tonight, we were enjoying a nice evening. The boys were doing their thing, I was working on supper, a meatloaf was in the oven, Emily was hanging out, and the doorbell rang. We assumed it was a neighborhood boy, but quickly I was called to the door where I was met by a man with an interesting proposition. He had a new vacuum cleaner and he wanted to clean a room in my house with absolutely NO obligation!!

You may know where this is going and you would probably be right but, at this point, I was thinking about the fact that within the last week, I had been on my hands and knees scrubbing carpets AND had considered renting a carpet cleaner thingy to perk up the dull floors. This man was telling me he'd do it for free with no obligation and just a few minutes of my time.

It honestly NEVER crossed my mind that he would throw out a full-fledged sales pitch that would include nearly TWO hours of my time!!

Here's what I learned about my new friend who, by the way was very nice, in the time he was in my home . . .

* He grew up in Hurst and graduated from L.D. Bell.

* He's married with 2 kids . . . a son and a daughter. His son looks like Tom Cruise with clubbed thumbs and his daughter married an Aggie and hasn't given him any grandkids.

* He loves meatloaf (which I have in the oven) but his wife doesn't and won't cook it for him.

* He's lived in the Houston area, Sugarland specifically, for the last 30 years and has worked for Kirby for 40 years.

* He fell off a ladder a few years ago and crushed both of his heels into 40-50 pieces!!

* He's a Dallas Cowboy fan, but they drive him to drink!

And this is only the beginning!!

The tricky part is that as he continued talking, vacuuming, shampooing, polishing, and cleaning, the meatloaf was near burning, the potatoes waiting to be mashed were quickly turning to potato soup, and we were all getting hungry!! I was supposed to meet my neighbor to walk at 8:00 so I started trying to work around my vacuuming friend. First, I mashed the potatoes. I cooked the green beans. I finished the meatloaf. I sat the boys down to eat and all the while, the Kirby man kept talking. Finally he started talking numbers and we quickly reminded him that we were teachers and as much as we'd love to have one of his machines, it wasn't going to happen!!

One of the best parts is that because I was having to save dinner, Emily took the brunt of his sales pitch and she knew from the beginning I should have never let him in!! That worked out ok because while my vacuum was a piece of junk, apparently, her system is WAY worse!!! :)

He continued talking while he began to pack up and Emily and I sat down to eat. He finished, took his stuff to the porch and told us that his ride would be by in a few minutes. Imagine our surprise as we watched him plop down in the chair and continue to talk to us while we ate!!

To say it was an awkward moment would be an understatement. I wasn't sure what to say or do. I asked if he needed anything and he declined . . . .just needed to take a load off!! So, basically, I have a vacuum cleaner salesman just hanging out in my house!!

I found myself thinking . . . this is one of those situations where you just don't have any idea what to do!! A very nice man is in the house during suppertime, has taken way more time than promised, and I have somewhere I need to be!

I'll leave you with his motto . . . . .If the Kirby goes, the dirt stays. But if the Kirby stays, the dirt goes!!