Growing Up
(Russell Baker)
THE PROMPT THAT CHANGED A LIFE As a small boy Baker understood the importance of a career in life thanks to his mother who had a great influence on him. Baker's mother was very focused in the sense that she wanted her son to be better than his father. She was exploring all sorts of trails on her son. We all know how challenging a salesman's job is. At first, Baker's mother wanted her son to be a salesman. Baker got his classroom training from his mother and field training from his sister, Doris. It is heartening to know that a 4th grader could learn salesmanship the hard way . At first he thought that just positioning himself in a busy place like Belleville Avenue would fetch him a lot of sales. But it didn't work and he couldn't figure out why it didn't! Fortunately, his mother was there to explain to him why it didn't work. She made Baker realize that position without persuasion would do no good. One would need to persuade people to buy a product. Eventually Baker learned to make cold calls, a very challenging part of salesmanship! One would not feel comfortable doing this unless he is confident, unless he is good at detailing the product he is selling,unless he is able to convince the customer why he/she should have that product.All said and done the little salesman could not shine in selling copies of THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. His mother was losing her patience as well. All that Baker learned was the maxims his mother used while arguing a point. Salesmanship had started making a negative effect on him. He seemed to developed a profound dislike for this kind of job----talking to strangers and having to face dogs at house entrances while making cold calls.A single good composition on summer vacation brought about a turning point in the little boy's life. His teacher had graded his essay with an A and his mother was impressed as well. After reading the composition of the 7th grader, Baker's mom realized her mistake-she was trying to make a salesman out of a writer. That night Baker's mom declared that he could become a writer. The little boy was thrilled. That was what he wanted to be. To him, writing was no work-just fun.
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