Persuagent

Dear Reader:

Today no one wrote in asking for my crazy but great advice. No pet lovers, no lovers, no, not even presidential candidates. Not even Mr. O himself has written. So I will take this opportunity to bore you with another poem that I wrote a number of years ago. At the time of writing this poem I had just failed in my career as an insurance agent, and the poem is about that experience. After reading this you will also know that I failed as a poet. Link a bunch of failures together though and suddenly you have success..... at something. Enjoy the poem.

PERSUAGENT

I am not a member of the "persuagent"

I found this out as an insurance agent

For twenty-some years I thought I could persuade

Preaching the Christian gospel was my crusade

For all those years I strived to tell

My flock how to live their lives so well

With the Spirit's anointing I gave the passionate plea

For people to accept Christ on bended knee

Many a soul gave their hearts to God

Then bore fruit as life's path they trod

Today I pastor that church no more

Things have changed in my life for sure

But since I thought I had the knack to be persuagent

I thought I could work as an insurance agent

I attended the classes to get my "degree"

My company even paid the fee

They were expecting a lot from me

And that is really how it should be

When I reported for service, I didn't know what to expect

But on the first day I learned the word "Prospect"

This was an order that was standing tall

I had to learn how to "cold call"

Picking up the phone was the hardest part

I really didn't know how to start

"Dialing for dollars" had to become an art

But was very nerve-wracking for an upstart

The few people I did get a chance to see

Didn't make it a habit of buying from me

I tried to be very "persuangent"

But few would buy from this insurance agent

So as a matter of survival

I'd be better off holding a revival

I bid farewell to this "lucrative" career

I'm sorry it lasted only one year

By Rod Speed

Note: From there I went into business for myself remodeling houses and doing carpentry and home repairs for others.