AMWAY AS FRIENDSHIPS chapter 213

     Della had a gift of hospitality and we always had a trainload of people pass through our home. I couldn’t begin to remember all the interesting and wonderful people we connected with during our Regina years. I brought guests from one group or another with whom I worked. They were also the ones who would just show up at the door from time to time. None of this ever bothered her and she seemed to always have something to serve. You could not come to our house without there being food.

When couples or families came it was at Della’s invitation and we had many couples with whom we enjoyed friendships while there were in Regina and some with whom that relationship extended beyond those years. Della was a master at maintaining relationships and keeping those connections. I’m convinced that women are just better at it than men. I love deep old friendships, but am pathetic at the work necessary to keep those relationships together. I am way better picking up where we left off when we do reconnect. I tend to be much more invested in where I am at the moment. Admittedly that is changing a bit as I age. I now long more for old relationships. I guess because I am old those friends seem secure.

Early in each year we would get a call from a young couple that just wanted to come by just to get to know us better. We both thought it unusual to get a call like that. One or the other of us knew who the couple was, but the connection always seemed rather casual. If I knew them, I had one of the pair in class. If Della knew them it was the wife she had met through student wives. The evening began pleasant enough, but then took a sharp left turn into an unwanted and unexpected sales pitch for Amway. We were both always surprised at the number of couples trying to supplement their income through Amway. They were either selling or recruiting sales people and most often both. Yikes!

The first call was from a very friendly couple that was admittedly fun to be with. We did get to know them and were disappointed at their attempt to turn the evening into a sales pitch. They were dissuaded fairly easy and the evening ended well.

The next couple where not so easily dismissed. Once in our home they had no intention of leaving until we made a purchase or joined the team. I despised Amway’s trained sales approach. It was manipulative, annoying and intrusive. I was called the set up deceitful and disgusting. There was nothing in me supportive of that annoying little pyramid scheme. These people we all more concerned about recruiting us to sell than buy. This extremely annoying couple had an answer for any attempt we made to be polite and kind about our refusal. Della actually excused herself and went to the bedroom not to return. I practically threw them out of the house. But they taught us something.

Any phone call we received in the first semester from a couple we barely knew or with whom we had a limited connection got a standard response when asking about a visit to get to know us better. “We would love to have you over on that basis, but if this is going to turn into an Amway sales pitch we have no interest in the product or your visit.” We never had another Amway pitch in our living room.

On the super annoying side, that first year I was approached by that man on more occasions than one and asked if we had reconsidered. He brought me close to swearing.

Amway of a large collection of environmentally safe cleaning products, I guess. We never even tried the stuff because of how annoying the salesmen were. If you are unaware of the Amway pitch from the 70’s, be thankful. The dealers were rampant in the college.