by Dickie Dixon

Belated birthdays:  November 5^th:  Betsy Weber Dean

For Posterity’s Eyes:  November birthdays:  9^th:  Aaron Patten Ken Mechell  10^th:  Joe Havard 11^th;  Angela Atteberry 13^th:  Judy Murphy, Wayne W. Cherry, Sam McMahon, Jeanetta Stewart, 14^th:  Andy Atteberry 15^th:  Hazel Jensen 16^th:  Valerie J. Stiles-Small

Never prejudge others:  In August 2004, I hired on to sell yellow pages advertising for TransWes-tern Publishing in Lufkin, Texas.  The company had, I think around 337 phone books in the United States; our office sold two:  the Lufkin-Nacogdoches area phone book and the Tri-County book for Freestone, Limestone, and Leon counties.  From about April 1st until November 1^st, we sold the Lufkin book; from November 1^st to March 31^st, we sold the Tri-County book.

Selling yellow pages as their salesman reminds me of something a salesman retiring from Temple-Inland once said:  “I’m on the road so much I feel  like a dead squirrel.”  Although we officed near the courthouse in Fairfield, I made calls in Garland, Hearne, Bryan/College Station, Streetman, and other far-flung cities.

This story happened toward the end of our sales canvass in Hearne.  Now although I wasn’t the top producer for the company, I did have the distinction during that five month period of selling more new customers than any other salesman (and we had seven or eight):  47 new customers.  What was my secret?  While the others cherry-picked the businesses they wanted to sell,  I worked the streets or highways systematically, that is, I went to each of them one by one.  In this story I’m telling you I was selling in Hearne on Highway 79.  We had already sold all the existing accounts assigned to us, so they asked us to go outside the area where the books were to be distributed to sell more new customers.

I had just been to Corn Body Shop, and the next business going north was Rogriquez Tire.  Now, as I stood outside about to go in to talk to them, I asked myself:  “Why would a retail tire store advertise in a phone book that isn’t even distributed in their city?”  Dubious, I went on in.  I talked to Mr. Rodriguez, only to find out that he was not just a retail tire store, but also a wholesale tire store.  Now, that simply means, that he sold tires to dealers, and he needed a wider trade area in which to advertise.  So, much to my surprise, I sold him an ad, not just in one book, but in 11 of our books.

Now, as I had stood outside his door, if I had prejudged who he was or what his business was, I would never have sold him in to 11 of our phone books.  So, my offering today to my readers is simply this:  Never prejudge others, particularly in sales.

Save the Date! The Angelina County Genealogical Society is honoring veterans who served at Pearl Harbor for its November 20, 2017 meeting.  Titter Hogan’s husband, Bobbi Allen’s stepfather, and Helen Kimmey Forrest’s brother will be honored in the presentation which begins at 4:00 p.m. in the Railroad Depot of Kurth Memorial Library on 702 South Raguet Street in Lufkin, Texas.  At 3:30 p.m. guests and members of the Society will enjoy refreshments and desserts together.  For more information, please call Dickie Dixon at (936) 240-8378, or email him at dickie.dixon@hotmail.com

For book notices or reviews please send me a complimentary copy to Kissin’ Kuzzins  P. O. Box 151001 Lufkin TX 75915-1001

Send your queries to dickie.dixon@hotmail.com by mail to Kissin’ Kuzzins P. O. Box 151001 Lufkin TX 75915-1001 or by phone to (936) 240-8378