Third place is your fired.

The man who sold me my digital camera had the posture of the Jack Lemmon character in Glengarry Glen Ross.

Another customer was paying for his top of the line unit at the same time that we went over to the cash register to finish up my transaction, my salesman maneuvered awkwardly around the other man’s salesman. The second salesman confidently shook his customers hand, passed him his double-bagged box, gave him his card (“I’m the manager.”) and invited him to drop his camera in a sink – they’ll replace it with no questions.

The customer headed out. As the manager (Kevin Spacey in Glengarry Glen Ross) walked away and I signed the credit card slip, my salesman turned toward the manager and said, “Thanks for doing that.”

The salesman saw me notice and confided that, “I was working on that guy and thought I was losing him. But my manager stepped in and closed it for me.”

I nodded my head and said, “Coffee is for closers.” He looked at me quizzically. Handing me my bag, he remembered himself, “Keep the packaging. You can bring it back anytime in the next 30 days and return it for an upgrade.”

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