Flooded Findlay

Most likely if you've seen the news over the last few days, you'll know the midwest has been pounded with rain recently. Findlay, OH has been in the spotlight because of the Blanchard River overflowing its banks covering much of the town in feet of water. Downtown Findlay, in addition to many residential areas, was deeply impacted by the floods crippling businesses, displacing residents, and ruining property.

I work in downtown Findlay. In fact, the company I work for sits less than a block off Main St and 2 1/2 blocks south of the river. A couple times a week, I eat my lunch at the river. Fortunately, our building was spared much destruction because our first floor is several feet above street level but our basement completely flooded.

Yesterday, since the city was shut down and you couldn't even get to our building, many of us worked from home. Today, however, we were able to make it in because the waters receded, leaving the city dirty and muddy... kinda like Scranton.

Findlay's a really nice town and I love the people I've gotten to know there so it's sad to see people I work with who have lost everything as a result of the flood. Here are a couple pics for your enjoyment.

Artisan in the Park

"Sir, can I interest you in a hand-carved trinket?"

Those are the words I heard from a gentleman who approached me as I entered the park to eat my lunch. He held up some sort of wooden pieces attached with a string. I didn't take the time to study what it was he was selling to properly identify the exact nature and usefulness of said trinket. After a few minutes of eating my lunch and pondering our brief dialogue/sales pitch, I realized the question he asked was a different one than I had heard, although he probably meant the same thing. What I heard was, "Are you interested in buying this configuration of wood and string," when in fact he asked me if he could interest me in whatever he was selling. I though he was giving me a sales pitch when in reality he was giving me a lead-in to one. Now, after having considered his actual question as to the possibility of interesting me in something, I should have answered, "Probably not."

However, he gave up after hearing me say, "No, thank you." I supposed technically I wasn't shutting the door on his presentation but rather predicting the success of it. Could he interest me in his hand-made trinket? No, he cannot nor did he attempt to. He then merely wished me a good day.

But as I continue to think, I'm wondering if my no response was to his inability to sell or my ability to resist a sale and succumb to being convinced to be interested. Since the subject of the question was himself, my answer would indicate that he lacks the ability in this instance to motivate me to be interested. In which case, I probably should have answered, "I'm not sure if you have the skills it takes to interest me in your product." It's apparent he didn't.