How not to make a sale

Having grown up with a great salesman for a father, I heard lots of stories from Grandpa Guy about the many creative ways he used to close a sale. Well, here is an example of how not to sell whatever it is you're trying to sell.

A guy knocked (banged loudly, actually) on our screen door the other day. When I reluctantly answered, he introduced himself and said he was with a financial services firm in Charlottesville and had just moved into the neighborhood next to Cale. I told him it was a great school and you all had really liked it there (except for the music teacher, who thought Cassie was tone deaf—is it uncool of me to say LOL here?). He looked at me and said, "Oh, so are you retired then?" To which I replied, "Do I look old enough to be retired?" There was a long pause as he played out the scenarios in his mind for how to answer that one without doing any more damage to his chances to sign me on as a client. Too late. Grandpa Guy got a good laugh out of such a rookie mistake when I told him this story. And I imagine the guy must have been new to this, as who sells financial planning services door-to-door? Soon I'll have CPAs banging on my door looking to do my taxes.

If you go to the farmer's market this time of year, there are beautiful tomatoes in almost every stall. It seems almost sinful not to have a tomato at dinner every night. Usually, I just cut a tomato into chunks and dress it with some good extra-virgin olive oil and a little flaky sea salt. If I'm feeling more ambitious, I'll also chop up a few fresh herbs and add a cucumber if I have one. Or, if I've gotten some of Elena's beans at the market, I can throw this salad together for a change. If you let the salad sit for 15 minutes, all the tomato juices and vinaigrette pool together in the bottom of the bowl, so it's nice to have a crusty loaf of bread on hand to tear off pieces and sop up the tasty juice.

Green Bean and Tomato Salad

Adapted from Cooking for Mr. Latte (2003)  by Amanda Hesser

sea salt
1 pound green beans, trimmed
1 tablespoon (15 grams) Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
pinch of sugar
freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup (53 grams) good extra-virgin olive oil
3 ripe tomatoes

    1. Bring a 3-quart saucepan filled with water to a roiling boil over high heat. Season generously with salt, then add the beans. Cook until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain, then wrap in a clean kitchen towel to dry.
    2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, sugar, a few grinds of pepper, and a pinch of salt. Whisk in the oil gradually, until the vinaigrette is emulsified.
    3. Core the tomatoes and cut them into 1-inch cubes. Cut the cooked beans in half. Add the beans and tomatoes to the bowl, and toss with the vinaigrette. The dressing and tomato juices will pool in the bottom of the bowl, so a piece of crusty bread to soak up the juices is good here. Serves 4.