Guys selling magazines door to door

[Anastasis]

What's the deal with these guys? They, at least in my neighborhood, are always black and have some story about how they are trying to get off of crack and straighten their life out, and apparently if they collect enough points by selling magazines door to door they can get themselves on the right track. What's the deal? Is this easy money, some rehab program, or what?

[Sneezy]

My first thought brings me to the Office Space scene

[Gehrig]

I once asked a dude if he had Vibe on his list. He didn't and I told him he had screwed himself out of selling 40 subscriptions.

[Real_Texas]

Hello, my name is Steve. I come from a rough area. I used to be addicted to crack but now I am off it and trying to stay clean. That is why I am selling magazine subscriptions.

[mdmost]

Ever have a door to door guy accuse you a racism if you don't buy their magazines? That is fun.

[huge]

i've bought my car and driver subscription from these types before.

i can report nothing negative. i like to help out the door to door types.

[tx 3 putt]

I don't even answer the door.

[VinceYoungScores]

They travel across the country in little packs. Each group of 10-12 has one or two "managers." I forget the names of the companies, but some sell books and magazines, some just magazines, and some sell pretty much everything you can find in a Border's. Some college students do it over the summer to earn money to pay for school. I had a friend...call him Hank...do it a few years back and he made about $9,000, in Tennessee and Minnesota. IN TWO MONTHS! He was planning on being a manager the next summer, because managers make commission off of all of their trainees, plus their experience makes them better at selling in general. Hank's manager had made something absurd like $22,000 that summer.

Hank's success prompted another friend, say Denise, who grew up without a pot to piss in, to try her hand. She literally had nothing else to do, was a starving musician, and had no reason NOT to just pack up a few things and take off with the circus. And the circus is what she joined. She was with this group in Houston. Then they all came to Austin. There were about 12 of them, and every day, 1/2 of them went to college station and 1/2 stayed in Austin. They were here for about 2 weeks. I hung out with a few of them once, and hung out with Denise a few times. Some stories:

They're all on drugs of some sort.

Most of them spent ALL of their money (yes, ~4,000 a month) on drugs.

They shared motel rooms, about 5 people to a room, and whoever in that room sold the least that night, had to sleep on the floor.

One girl pissed herself EVERY NIGHT. She always slept on the floor.

When they went to college station, they all sold a lot. (A LOT of apartment complexes with college students.) A group of 4 or 5 of them went into some guys' apartment and just smoked weed with them for a few hours. Had a little bit of buttsechs too.

Denise was confronted by an apartment manager who said he was going to call the cops on them. She ran away from him, and he chased her until she got to the van, and they eventually drove away.

The top seller of every couple groups in a certain time span gets to go on a free trip. That's everyone's main motivation. One would think that the opportunity to make the shitload of money that is available would be sufficient motivation, but they all come to terms with the fact that they're drug addicts and they're never going to save any of that money.

Denise quit after about 3 weeks.

[Gehrig]

Ever have a door to door guy accuse you a racism if you don't buy their magazines? That is fun.

I had that happen. I wanted to kick the dude in the jimmies.

[Anastasis]

How could a guy who reads Vibe be racist?

[spankytoes]

Waste of a career.

[Gehrig]

How could a guy who reads Vibe be racist?

I read Ebony and Jet too.

[suttree]

A group of 4 or 5 of them went into some guys' apartment and just smoked weed with them for a few hours. Had a little bit of buttsechs too.

yeah we had a couple of chicks drop by the Sig Ep house one day to sell their magazines, and they ended up fucking a couple of the brothers. They also "sold" a whole bunch of subscriptions to the same "brothers" that were enrolled in the CD club. Hopefully they got paid irrespective of the actual bill getting paid.

Both of those chicks were coke whores.

[pray4mojo]

http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=115501199061804400

Just one of a few stories on the fucked up lives these door to door people live.

[Gehrig]

When I grow up, I want to be Suttree.

[hayden_horn]

then you can watch sex and the city every night, too, mac!

[Gehrig]

then you can watch sex and the city every night, too, mac!

Wait, let me rethink that.

[Exposition]

<story about the salesman that ended up taking a dump in the front yard>

[bigup2dahorns]

I don't even answer the door.

just did that the other night. heard a knock on the door, looked thru the peephole and said oh hell no, i'm not opening the door for this shit.

[NCAAFBALLROX]

About 1 month ago, had someone from a crew come by doing door to door sales on a cleaning product of some kind. She sprayed in the algae on the porch & scrubbed a clean stripe out of it. Said she was "trying to make money so she could follow her dream of opening a restaurant".

I said "no" & she didn't take that @ 1st try so I backed away & shut the door.

Fast forward to 3 days ago when the same girl came to the door selling magazines. I said ""Say, you're the same girl who was selling cleaner last month. Notice I pressure washed the porch & sidewalk?" Then shut the door.

[suttree]

then you can watch sex and the city every night, too, mac!

Last night Charlotte got married to bald Booger. I always root for Booger anytime he is in any movie or TV show, so it actually was a relatively pain free night.

[Lonestarman]

Last night Charlotte got married to bald Booger. I always root for Booger anytime he is in any movie or TV show, so it actually was a relatively pain free night.

I saw an interview with Booger awhile back and he was talking about how hard it's been to get away from that character. It was actually kind of sad. Hell, I liked his character Miles in Risky Business almost as much.

[suttree]

getting typecast is the suck, but if you have to get typecast Booger is a pretty good character to get stuck with.

He's been in a bunch of shit over the years, but every time you see him you automatically think "Booger!!"

The belch he lays down in ROTN is probably the best part of the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VemrMdyfLP4

[HornzUp]

I was at a buddies and answered the door. I listened to the whole thing and then told him to come back later when the guy that lived there got home. For some reason he wouldnt leave. I really hate shuting the door on peoples face but when they wont take a hint you do what you got to do.

[simihorn]

I liked him in Moonlighting. But even then, he was always booger.

[jt]

PSA: there's a group in a dark dodge van up in N Austin right now. Saw them today gassing up at the Speedy Stop next to Bone Daddy's. All dressed up in their finest!

[The Dude]

i tell them im blind... and ask if they have any braile rags

[dadew]

I somehow automatically think that anyone over the age of 17 selling door-to-door is a criminal. Is this wrong?

[NCAAFBALLROX]

I somehow automatically think that anyone over the age of 17 selling door-to-door is a criminal. Is this wrong?

From my experiences, you're pretty close to spot on.

They are just a valid DL away from being white van speaker guys...

[hullabelew]

A group of 4 or 5 of them went into some guys' apartment and just smoked weed with them for a few hours. Had a little bit of buttsechs too.

yeah we had a couple of chicks drop by the Sig Ep house one day to sell their magazines, and they ended up fucking a couple of the brothers. They also "sold" a whole bunch of subscriptions to the same "brothers" that were enrolled in the CD club. Hopefully they got paid irrespective of the actual bill getting paid.

Both of those chicks were coke whores.
I had pretty much the same experience as suttree on this, a couple of times. We invited them in and they ended up spending a few hours, drank a lot, smoked a lot, screwed a lot. One group of girls stopped back by a couple of times actually.

[MissingInAction]

I tried selling Kirby vacuums door to door. That lasted one day. We were always onthe run from the po po because weddint have permits, and yes everyone was cracked out on something. Anyway, we were all packed in a white suburban being ejected out in fron of houses offering a free shampoo of the carpet.
Some people did very well, but not for me.