A Saturday night in July...
I'm out with my family enjoying pizza at a local landmark in Marshalltown... Zeno's.
We're pretty much done eating... just finishing up our drinks... you know... chillaxin.
Then suddenly, things got extremely interesting.
A young lady and what looked to be her folks and her grandmother were sat in the booth directly behind us... and THEIR conversation turned to the topic of senior pictures.
I overheard the young lady mentioning a Marshalltown photographer as a potential option and some guy named Stewart.
It wasn't like we had to have some double secret wire tapping device to hone in on this conversation... it was clearly audible... and delightfully intriguing.
So the debate was on in our booth... Do I say something? Do I not? I've never been one to be up in someone's grill with my used car salesman pitch... especially interrupting someone's dinner with family. The deal is this with me.... I can't take the rejection! ;-) With that in mind, I typically have always just let our work speak for itself and let things take care of themselves.
But in this case... I was being dared and double dared by my children... "Dad! you HAVE to say something!" And my wife, who knows my propensity to just let things run their natural course, pulled out the reverse psychology... "you won't do it.... I know you."
At that point... it was ON. I pulled out my wallet... took out a business card... and got up to leave. I took two steps towards the lobby and looked at our potential client and put my left hand on her shoulder... and placed the business card on the table in front of them with my right, and merely said... "If it makes any difference to you at all, THIS is where I think you should go for senior pictures... and if you'd call me on Tuesday, I'd be glad to explain the differences between the two studios."
Her mother asked, "which one are you?" I pointed to the business card and walked away.
Several weeks passed and I figured I had lost the battle. But as you can see... Samantha here, and her family ultimately came our way. I found out later that the decision was made that night after we left.
Quite a story... one I'll never forget. Samantha and I have a bond now. I call her "Zeno's Girl." We've all wondered what it would be like to be a fly on the wall. Well.. on that night... we got to find out. And fortunately for both studios involved... the entire conversation was completely positive and complimentary.
In addition, pizza, as usual, was good... and I hope she thinks her images are even better.
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