Where’s The Money

By: HelloGod

Volume 1 No.7

Sunday July 6, 2008

My plans for my tour around the country were made. Hotel reservations were booked. All I had to do was get in the car and drive from New York to California while stopping in Reno, Nevada to see what slot machines really looked like. After seeing San Francisco drive down to LA into San Diego then visit Mexico. I heard you could negotiate with merchants in Mexico and I wanted to see how I could negotiate with someone when I didn’t know their language. Cruise through Arizona and on to Texas, Louisiana and into Florida. Just ditty-bop up the east coast and viola’, the plans were set.

After circling the ad in the local newspaper for the organist job I decided to give them a call. My intention was to take on an extra job for a few weeks to earn some extra spending money for my trip around the country. I had no intention of staying in any new job. “Hello,” I said. A man’s voice said, “Hello, may I help you?” Sure, I said. I noticed your ad in the paper for someone to play the organ. Yes, he said. We don’t do phone interviews so I’ll have to make an appointment for an interview. Fine, I said. I’m available on Wednesday or Friday to come in for the interview, what’s best for you? Wednesday he said and we set the time for my interview. Now I’m thinking, gee, how much can something like this pay? I’d like to pick up an extra thousand or two before my trip.

Wednesday came. When I arrived at the address the man gave me, I noticed it was a local piano and organ store. Yuck, they want to coop me up all day. I parked my car and walked into the store telling myself, it’s only temporary, just make some extra spending money. A hefty, tall man walked out of an office, which had a two-way mirror. He had curly blonde hair and his shirt was a bit tight around his waist. He put his hand out to shake mine as he pushed a cigarette butt into an ashtray on a desk. After the introductions, he said sit down. I sat down and he proceeded to explain the position they needed filled.

We need a salesman, he said, someone who can play the organ well enough to demonstrate the instrument to a potential buyer. What kind of music do you need to play, I asked. Pretty much anything, he said. He lied. How does it work, I asked? All you do (ever notice when someone says all you do, it is their way of saying there is more to this than I’m willing to tell you?) is when a customer comes in the door; you greet them and qualify them. Then you take them to an organ, play a couple of songs and then close the sale. Once the organ is delivered, you get paid. Oh, so this is a straight commission job, I asked? Let me just say something here. Any salesperson worth their salt deserves more than straight commission. Good salespeople work hard at honing their skills and pay for education to improve their knowledge and abilities. If a company isn’t willing to pay them a base plus commission for getting THEIR product into customer’s hands; they aren’t a good employer. No, the general sales manager said. We pay a draw against commission. We guarantee you a minimum of six hundred dollars per month. You earn commission on each sale. If you earned $ 1,500 in commission for a month, we would pay you $600 as a guaranteed draw and you would receive a commission check for $900. So either way, you receive the $ 1,500. Why not just pay a salary of $600 then and pay the $900 as commission, I thought. I would realize later, the pay structure was set up for legal avoidance. Their pay structure enabled them to say you were not really an employee but an independent contractor. Yeah, right.

After being shown around the piano and organ store, the general sales manager asked me what I thought. I couldn’t tell him I was just looking for a job for a few weeks to get some extra spending money together. How did I handle the situation? You’ll have to tune in tomorrow.

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