 I had a talk with my cousin the other day and well, I fear for my future. Yes, the blog is called Sweet, Dark and Crazy but my father and his mother have put the C in crazy. Both of them have been consumed by a multi-level marketing venture. In fact, in my father’s case, it’s all he can talk about and I mean ALL he can talk about. I’m sorry except when he stops long enough to give you a sermon about what you are doing wrong or why the people on whatever TV show are going to hell.
My father started his fascination with MLM’s back in the early 80’s with Amway. He’s done several others as well over the years. Now he’s retired and he is committed to making his millions from this latest venture. Can money be made through it? I’m not sure. Is this his key to his financial freedom and the answer to all his financial woes? Unfortunately, I doubt it.
Here’s what I do know:
I am not a multi-level marketer. I understand it; but I don’t want to do it. It’s not who I am. It’s not what I want for myself. I have absolutely no interest and I mean, zip, zilch, zero, nada, interest in it. I don’t need to see another presentation to change my mind, because it won’t. I don’t need just one more diagram outlining how much money I make by ‘just showing other people the opportunity.’ A pep rally-filled with impossibly (and suspiciously upbeat) people isn’t going to do the trick. I don’t want to do it. Period.
Yet I’ve been here for 2 days and I’ve been assaulted with The Opportunity both days. In fact, he even suggested that I use my one week that I’m here to ‘show the opportunity’ to several of my friends. I don’t want to do it. I’ve tried to be polite. I’ve listened. I’ve nodded. I’ve helped him with his PowerPoints and his computer.
My father is one of those people who will talk to any and everyone about the opportunity and will not take no for an answer. Busboy, bellboy, hostess, waitress, mechanic, customer service rep calling on the phone, guest visiting the neighbor next door, man running from a house in flames as everything he owns goes up in smoke, soccer mom in line at Starbucks on the way to picking the kids up from practice, no one is immune. I’m working on project that I am very excited about and am working very hard on. Guess what? He doesn’t care. He can’t give me 5 minutes to discuss what I’m excited about or passionate about without completely ignoring me and going back to the MLM and why I should do it. The only thing worth passion and excitement is his precious MLM. If I ever did get married, he wouldn’t see his daughter happy and finally getting something she’s really wanted. He’d see a room of 200 prospects. He’d probably use his toast to ‘introduce’ the opportunity and rush me through cutting the cake so he could show a PowerPoint and video on the wall. Excitement can be contagious but this is just ridiculous. Labels: Family |
