You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Soap Talk’ category.
I ran across this term recently in another blog, and it stuck with me. It’s a succinct way of describing those moments when tightness triumphs over the impulse to be generous.
I had a Generosity Fail yesterday at the Orleans Farmers Market. A pleasant silver-haired guy stopped by my table to tell me he’d bought a lot of bars last season and given them to his family members as stocking stuffers. They were a big hit.
“That’s great to hear! Have you tried the soap yourself?”
He admitted he hadn’t.
“Well you should try it! Look, these seconds are just $2 and $3.”
At that moment my attention was drawn away by another customer at the table, and when I turned back, he had moved on.
Dope! I thought. Why didn’t you just pop a nice bar in a glassine bag and hand it to him? “Here….try it! It’s a gift.” Not because it was good marketing, which of course it was, but because it’s nice to give things away. The freedom to give people stuff is one of the perks of being the business owner. I also encourage my employees to err on the side of generosity when dealing with customers. Giving things away frees up energy. It’s fun.
In that instance, it wasn’t exactly a case of stinginess triumphing over generosity since I didn’t care at all about making an extra $2, but of simple inattentiveness to the opportunity of the moment.
Oh well. Generosity Fail. Better luck next time.
One of the central themes of Buddhism is that everything changes.
I had a full dose of this reality last spring, when Elaine and Priscilla, my production assistants at Summer House Soaps, both came to me in the same week to tell me that, for differing personal reasons, they had to leave.
I had just returned from the New York Gift Show when this came up, and business was jumping. Suddenly I was looking at the possibility of having no soap to sell as we headed into the busiest time of year. (You may have noticed a long gap in blogging during this rocky period of adjustment!)
Now – flash forward – the business has recreated itself in a robust new shape. In production, we now have Karl and Julie. Elaine and Priscilla have stayed connected through wrapping soap and selling at the farmer’s markets. Debbie and Sarah do the same.
Yesterday we all sat down together for a celebratory mid-season lunch on the screen porch. We feasted on chicken and shrimp and lots of locally grown vegies (click here for my new favorite summer soup: chilled minted borscht). I looked around at everyone’s faces and marvelled.
Change happens, things end. We resist it, but it happens anyway. And then something else arises in place of what was before, and it’s often very good.
Just came back from a week in New York at the NY International Gift Fair. This was the first time we took our products to New York. It feels like the Big Time, but a bit scary! The show costs big bucks, and you have to deal with big unions, and those crazy big apple drivers, and all it takes is one big blizzard for all the money you’ve invested to go down the toilet. Still, the buyers were there, in spite of the chill weather and dismal economy. We wrote some good orders and planted lots of seeds. Now we just have to keep watering them and giving them sunlight.
Spending a week in New York was a blast. I rented an apartment in a great Chelsea neighborhood full of inexpensive but hip restaurants and attractive people walking their little dogs. I spent an evening meditating at The New York Insight Center, which was right down the street, and another one checking out the Asian art at the Rubin Museum, also right around the corner. Mostly, though, I was ready to crash after a long day at the show. It would be fun do spend a week in NYC without having to do any work!
Many thanks to Elaine and Ginny and Kate for helping me out at the show!
The other day, one of my customers asked me if any of our soaps had deodorant action. It seems that her husband, a builder, was a bit aromatic when he came home from work. She though he needed a deodorant soap such as Dial to keep fresh. Read the rest of this entry »
At a time when the demand for oil lies at the heart of some of the world’s most painful conflicts, it seems appropriate to mention that our soap does not contain any petroleum. Read the rest of this entry »
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because of its simplicity. We get together with friends and family and share a meal. It takes at most two days: one to cook and one to eat. The dinner is a collaborative affair, with everyone bringing a side dish or a pie; and the traditional nature of the menu saves us from going overboard on foods designed to impress. Read the rest of this entry »
