Topical Guide 170
Mark Dorset
Naïveté
The boy who delivered the Babbington Reporter looked at me with incredulity and glee when I asked him whether he ever thought of retiring from the newspaper business.
He recovered quickly. “Nah,” he said. “It’s too exciting.” …
“All right,” he said, after he had delivered the last paper. “You win. I’ll sell you the route.”
“Sell?” I asked.
“Sure. Let’s say a dime a customer.”
“Well, I—”
“You have to give me all the money I’m owed, too.”
“Owed?”
“Yeah. Not everybody pays on time. Didn’t you notice?”
“No,” I said. I had been too occupied with the task of convincing him to surrender the route.
“You don’t know much about the newspaper business, do you?” he asked.
“No,” I confessed.
“You’ll learn,” he said.Little Follies, “Take the Long Way Home”
Life: Metaphors and Similes for: River, Sports (Baseball)
My argument ran along the following lines, which I’d based on comments I’d heard Mel Allen make before a broadcast of an old-timers’ game: there comes a time when the veteran has to step aside to give the rookie a chance, has to recognize that the river of life is flowing on and it’s time he drifted on with it, …
Little Follies, “Take the Long Way Home”
Mel Allen (born Melvin Allen Israel; February 14, 1913 – June 16, 1996) was an American sportscaster, best known for his long tenure as the primary play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees. During the peak of his career in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, Allen was arguably the most prominent member of his profession, his voice familiar to millions. Years after his death, he is still promoted as having been “The Voice of the Yankees.”
Life Lessons Unlearned: Bargaining, Negotiating
Business Practices: Sharp and Shady
He pulled the strap of his newsboy’s bag over his head and thrust the bag at me. “It’s a deal then, right?”
“Right,” I said. I was so pleased to have the job that I accepted his terms without bargaining, without even considering that bargaining might be possible, establishing that day a habit of thought that has made me pay too much for most of the things I have bought since. …Little Follies, “Take the Long Way Home”
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