Wednesday, November 2, 2011

The Day I Met Tessla

If I wasn't having fun I wouldn't do it. Everyday I meet new people and every couple days I meet new pets. Once I met a guy who had 7 albino German shepherds all in the same room with me as I was explaining about our gutter guards. The room was only about 12 x 12 feet. The air was thick with the smell of dog and the floating dog dust and hair which you could almost taste. He sat there proudly explaining why he loved his seven dogs....The house could have used a woman's touch though.

When I was a boy my brothers and I would beg dad for a dog. A classic, predictable scenario would follow...who would take care of it? who would pick up after it? ...of course we promised that we would faithfully do it all...what about in the harsh winter weather? ...of course we will....and on and on and on. Dad won, no dog.

When you measure people's houses everyday you occasionally find a surprise or two in the yard. You find yourself at the car wash after an appointment hosing off your shoes. Dogs bark at you. Little dogs nip at you. And all the Lab owner's tell you not to be afraid because the dog "won't hurt you, he'll just lick you to death." I don't know about you but I don't think that's a very good way to go and what would the epitaph read?..."here lies another salesman licked to death by a Labrador."

Needless to say you can get a little hardened to those puppy eyes. It was then I met Tessla. Tessla is bigger than a big Labrador but is only 7 months old. Tessla is going to grow more. Tessla will weigh more than my average customer someday. Tessla is a great dane. It's the puppies that always melt your heart and bring you back to having those happy dog thoughts, but usually the puppies are not 100 lbs already. My customer sat on the couch and I sat in the chair showing her Leaf Solution...Tessla sat on the customer's lap. I showed how the micro mesh keeps the debris out of the gutter system...Tessla started licking my product sample. I tried to talk but Tessla wanted the attention and licked and nuzzled me until I couldn't ignore. The only thing Tessla didn't do was offer to pay the deposit, though he did try to snatch the credit card from his master's hands when she tried to hand it to me.

Nice to meet you Tessla... The world's biggest lap dog.