We arrive in North Carolina at 12AM. It is much colder than Florida but warmer than Salt Lake City. Our first seminar is a bust, and we sell too little to make it worth our while. The crowd was non descript and the only thing most of the men could talk about were NC sports. The area we were in was surrounded by universities and sports rivalries. Two old men were talking about coaches and players from the 50's and 60's. like it was yesterday.
The next day we drove about an hour to Goldsboro NC. Goldsboro's main employers are the hog slaughterhouse and the turkey factory. Our conference room is shabby and lit like a soviet era hotel and has the smell of a wet dog. The crowd is larger and our hopes are high.
I am downstairs with Mykul greeting the guests. A thirty something black woman name Merelene sees me and Mykul and starts flirting with us. " The Lord spoke to me and told me to come, you boys sure are handsome" She is unemployed so she wont be buying anything, but she loves Mykul and I and we both conclude that she is here to find a man. We do what we can to avoid her.
By the end of the seminar I am working with three older ladies, a 70 year old woman and two late 50's women. One of the women says that she'll buy if I will stay in Goldsboro with her. At first I think she is just being cute, but the woman is serious and starts up with a plethora of inuendos. She's charming at first and then I start to feel more like her prey. I start looking for a door, and try to pass her off on one of the other salesmen. Finally they buy at the false promise that when we come back to the area I will look her up.
The day finished, I walked down the frontage road to buy a pack of cigarettes. The Southern Market is about a half a mile away. I must have looked out of place walking down a frontage road past an abandoned elementary school in my suit and tie.
Back behind the school were the trees. The forest buts up against everything here, and its wild with vines, underbrush and tall trees. Being a westerner, I always feel rather claustrophobic in the South, where vistas are at a premium.
There were some really great people in NC, like Nate the resteraunt owner at the hotel. He took to Mykul and I and we sat around his bar and had a few beers. He introduced to his wife and kids and they were the warmest down to earth people we had met in a long time.
Overall, NC felt heavy, like a wet blanket draped over your shoulders. There was something palpable in the air, that made us want to leave......
Maybe it was all the gutted pigs hanging on hooks just down the road.
Comments