Thursday, April 07, 2005

The Tootsie Roll

I am going to tell you about this guy and his cool trick, but first let me preface with this:

My new office is a smaller operation than my previous place of employment. I think we are around 40 people where my old place was well over 100. We have only one admin/receptionist for the whole office. She sits close to the front door. When the delivery men come to drop something off, they take it to her and she signs for it. When she is not at her desk they look for the closest employee to sign for the package and that happens to be me, because I am the one who sits nearest the receptionist and the front door. It is a pain because I am busy working and would rather not be bothered, but I try it keep a good attitude about it. I am sure it annoys them to have to look for someone in the office for a signature.

So, I am working at my desk and from behind me in a quiet voice I hear, "Excuse me, Sir. Can you sign my clipboard?" Without saying anything or really looking directly at the guy I take the clipboard and sign my name. He seemed to be a tall skinny older man with a big mustache. The kind of guy you would expect to leave outside of town on a farm. I bet he drives an old beat up truck and looks pretty good in a green John Deere cap.

Here is his trick. I hand the clipboard back to him and in one swope motion of his arm, he reaches up to grab it as a tootsie roll goes sliding across my desk. He says thank you and is gone without waiting for a reaction. I am left stunned. How did he do? I didn't see it leave his hand. How long has he done that? He is pretty smooth the way he operates the realease of the tootsie roll and the grab of the clipboard.

The tootsie roll put a smile on my face. I'll try to be more friendly next time I have to sign something.

4 comments:

shakedust said...

Next time he does that you ought to have something like some Bubble Yum to toss back to him. See if he is as taken aback as you were.

Justin C. said...

That is a good trick:) I may have to see if I can do that.

windarkwingod said...

The Tootsie Roll guy is obviously a marketing genius. Next time you see him, you may have to struggle with other employees to reach him first. I used to deliver oxygen tanks while my wife was in school. One trailer house in Mt. Vernon, Missouri was hard to get to, but the elderly couple always had two generic oreo cookies and a can of caffeine-free diet pepsi with a paper towel secured around it with a rubber band to keep the can from sweating. I still remember. One other thought - the Tootsie Roll may be poisoned.

f o r r e s t said...

Windarkwingod, it's funny you say that, because I had that exact same thought about it being poisoned. But I had to find out and it's not.
Lucky me!