Beauty Aggression

In my cupboard at home, I have a set of cuticle oil, lotion, and a four-sided nail buffer. I actually have two sets. I paid about $75 for the two sets many, many years ago.Why would I do such a thing? It seems pretty pricey, especially when my husband was in medical school and we were living as cheaply as possible on loans.I'll tell you why.I had been casually walking in a mall in Pasadena, California, when a man suddenly grabbed my hand and started filing my nails.Then he slapped lotion on me. My head was screaming for me to just leave, but my feet were heavy and wouldn't budge. I listened to his whole presentation as he kept working on my hand. What else could I do? His grip was tight.It was weird.In a few minutes, my left hand looked nicely manicured. What now? This stupid set cost $75! What? I couldn't afford that. He kept going on and on."You buy one...I'll throw in a second one for free," he said.I wanted to walk away. I felt trapped. Could I just leave now that he had quickly manicured one hand? I agreed to his dumb deal and left with ONE pretty hand and a bag full of nail products I didn't want, need, or could actually afford.AAAHH!I understand the nature of sales. If you are selling something...you need to let people know, right? I don't mind assertiveness. But aggression? Invasion of personal space? It bugs me.For example, I was in Costco a while ago and a woman came up and just squirted lotion on me. What?! I was tempted to wipe the pile of lotion from my arm across her face. I didn't. I just rubbed it in and moved on. Never mind the fact that it smelled awful, and now I did as well. Thanks, lady.This weekend I have been in Houston at a dance competition with one of my girls. The hotel is located right in the big mall downtown. The beauty product aggression here has reached a whole new level.When we first walked into the mall, I caught a man's eye, and he smiled. I, a normal human being, smiled back and kept walking. Out of nowhere, he was suddenly right next to me trying to hand me something. No thanks! We walked faster.We rode up the escalator to the entrance of our hotel. A woman was standing at the top."Are you looking for me?", she asked.Bewildered at her question, I looked at her, not quite registering what she said."Are you looking for me?", she asked again."Am I looking for you...what?", I asked, confused as ever.What on earth was going on? I just want the hotel lobby!! Then she grabbed some advertisement cards and asked if I would like to try...Ugh! I didn't stay for her to finish.We could see the hotel sliding doors when I spotted another salesman, crossing all the mall traffic to get to me, his arms waving with samples of some kind or another.We ducked into the hotel at last. Whew.I think we could all do without so much aggression from the mall kiosk salespeople. I'd like to decide if I want lotion on, and what kind I want on my body. If I am interested in a product, I'll come to you.The ONLY time I would welcome that type of aggression is if they are from See's Candies, and handing me a truffle. So far, that's never happened.So back off, people. And keep your nail files and perfumes and lotions to yourself.