So this summer has been the summer of revelations….mainly regarding our soon to be 21 year old son John.   Home for the summer with an internship at Hussman Refrigeration, he has also taken on the job of selling Cutco Knives to all of our friends, family and acquaintances.  No one will ever speak to Mike and I again, I am sure.   And for those of you who have given him the opportunity to demonstrate these superior knives and perhaps purchased from him, I thank you.

The revelation has been this seemingly overnight drive to work 14 hour days, sometimes longer.   What happened to my “vampire child” – the one who slept til dusk and then roamed the night?    Who slept until the last possible second before rising, racing to get dressed and getting to work?    What happened to the child whose bedroom looks like a terrorist bomb went off in a department store?   What happened to the child who we used to joke would burst into flames if he saw the sun?

This year he is up at 4am to work out for 2 hours….then dress, off to work at Hussman…only to come home and go on rounds of demo appointments for Cutco.   If he has no demos he goes to the Cutco office at night to call for appointments.   It’s a transformation not unlike a religious conversion….he’s all full of fervor and passion and will talk to anyone who will listen about his Cutco Knives, his internship or  his workouts.

The biggest revelation and perhaps the scariest is he is acting JUST LIKE HIS FATHER!  This actually could be a sign of the apocalypse.   I’ve always said another Mike Pappas would be a scary thing…well, here he is folks.   Mike Jr.   And the irony of ironies, my husband is concerned that his son is excelling at sales …he doesn’t want Mike Jr. to be in sales after all the money we’ve spent at Indiana’s business school…LOL!    Having said all of this, John has not really made it his goal to sell either but he is enjoying the challenge.   This is a good thing right?   In order to be in business one must learn many aspects of business and one aspect is sales!   His internship is rewarding too but he is more confined in what jobs he is given and pretty much has to follow orders.  Not as much of a challenge.  Hmmm, Mike, I wonder who that is like???

I must say, I am rather proud of my son…he is persistent with calling and following up.   He is entertaining his “clients” with his demonstrations and he is selling to folks who have told him point blank they are not buying anything but are happy for him to do the demo!  I, of course have heard all of this from those friends who I see shortly after his visits.   Its a great thing to hear good feedback from real grown ups that your child has done well or impressed them.   I hope and pray this behavior continues.   If nothing else this experience this summer has taught him a lot, not just about his own skills, drive and challenges but it has given him a new appreciation and respect for his dad who has slogged it out in the sales world his whole professional life and also his mom in real estate.   He’s learned its hard work and perseverance that pays off and he’s vowed not to ask us for any spending money in the coming school year.   I’ll keep you posted on that one!  *wink, wink*