VENDOR WRITING

Playlist for a Successful Sales Day

BY NORMA B.

Many of you have asked what I’m doing as I walk along the side of the road selling the paper. No, I’m NOT talking to myself, well-not most of the time anyway. I’m usually listening to and/or singing songs playing on my Pandora. It helps pass the time between customers, and it keeps things interesting!

So what does a typical day’s playlist look like? Here ya go, this should give you a pretty good idea. I honestly think there’s something for everyone but if not, feel free to stop by and share what you’re into, I’d love to know! I’m sure we can find some common ground musically.

Day 1: 1. “Home” by Michael Bublé — all I can say is, it’s nice to have one!

2. “Another Saturday Night” by Sam Cooke — even though it played on a Friday

3. “Royals” by Lorde

4. “Your Song” by Elton John

5. “No Particular Place To Go” by Chuck Berry

6. “Gone, Gone, Gone” by Phillip Phillips

7. “It’s Now Or Never” by Elvis Presley

8. “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol

9. “I Can’t Live Without You” by Air Supply

10. “Daddy’s Money” by Ricochet — there’s a line in the song, “country as a turnip green” and a customer asked, “what does that even mean?” The only thing I could think to say was REAL COUNTRY.

11. “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” by The Temptations

12. “Run To You” by Bryan Adams

13. “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” by Martina McBride. Requested by a cancer patient, but I have laryngitis so singing was out of the question, but we shared a moment listening to it together. Sweet! Maybe I’ll get the chance do-over.

14. “I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack

15. “Can’t Smile Without You” by Barry Manilow — takes me back to 3rd grade and my first choral performance at school

16. “Ring Of Fire” by Johnny Cash

17. “Easy On Me” by Adele

18. “Locomotion” by Little Eva

19. “Independence Day” by Martina McBride)-a snapshot of my life... my mom was abused which no doubt changed the course of her life, and eventually led to my getting sent to a girls home. Art really does imitate life.

20. “You Are” by Lionel Ritchie

21. “Sister Golden hair” by America

22. “The Heart Brings You Back”- by Blues Traveller — someone I worked with introduced me to their music

23. “Then” by Brad Paisley. I saw him in concert at The Bridgestone Arena with my good friend, Joanne. He puts on a really good show, if you ever have the opportunity to see him live I recommend it!

24. “Rose Colored Glasses” by John

Conlee 25. “Still The Same” by Bob Segar

26. “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”by Whitney Houston. This song led a guy to “bust a move” on the sidewalk. He invited me to do the same. I declined saying that Helen Keller (a deaf mute) had more rhythm than I do, only to realize he had NO CLUE who/ what I was talking about. Can you say generation gap?

27. “Colder Weather” by Zac Brown Band. This song reminds me of my former roommate's dad, a long-haul truck driver who always wanted to be home with his family, but his job kept getting in the way. How sad!

28. “Uncle Pen” by Ricky Skaggs

29. “Here I Go Again” by Whitesname. The day-to-day kinda feels like that sometimes, you know?

30. “Rescue Me” by Fontella Bass. That’s what every one of you do each time you take the time to stop to help me in some way.

31. “I Need You Now” by Lady A. This was the last paper I sold today, it went for a Chick-Fil-A meal that went to my granddaughter Avani. (It was a grilled chicken sandwich and a lemonade — the BEST thing at Chick-Fil-A in my opinion.) YUM! That’s not all though, they pulled into the parking lot and also gave me a soft fuzzy blanket. It was quite chilly. (My granddaughter also loves those too!) Any guesses who ended up with that?

Day 2: 1. “Tears In Heaven” by Eric Clapton

2. “The Thunder Rolls” by Garth Brooks

3. “Toes” by Zac Brown Band

4. “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” by Charlie Daniels. You gotta love when the local guy makes good and never forgot where he came from! He put on quite a show at Mt. Juliet Jr. High School, the absolute BEST part of my 18 day stint at that school by far! (He even stopped for me one time on a rainy day and gave me $20 which came in handy because school was about to start, and anyone with kids will tell you, THAT’S NOT CHEAP!

5. “Annie’s Song” by John Denver. My mom often played his music on her Ladies Gibson guitar (a gift from her brother Thomas) until she had to pawn it to make ends meet.

6. “The Closer You Get” by Alabama

7. “Because You Loved Me” by Celine Dion. I traded a paper for a bag of Hershey candy. Sweet! (Literally)

8. “I Wish” by Stevie Wonder. The lyrics remind me of my childhood in SO many ways. Why? Consider these lyrics, “Sneakin’ out the back door to hang out with those hoodlum friends of mine, greeted at the back door ‘[Girl] I thought I told you not to go outside!’ Tryin’ your best to bring the water to your eyes, thinkin’ it might stop her from whippin’ your behind’” Did it work? No! Can anybody else relate?

9. “Come To My Window” by Melissa Etheridge

10. “She Will Be Loved” by Maroon 5. Known for my smile, this song has been a popular on my corner ever since I chipped my front tooth. (The song is about “a girl with a broken smile” and says “she will be loved.“)

11. “Heaven” by Bryan Adams

12. “Carry On My Wayward Son” by Kansas. Taylor who works at Party Fowl on 8th Ave. stopped and gave me a long sleeved Party Fowl shirt and offered me a meal on the house when I come down town. Sounds good to me!

13. “Footprints In The Sand” by Leona Lewis. If you’ve ever read the poem of the same name, just imagine the words set to music — BEAU- TIFUL!

14. “American Pie” by Don McLean 15. “Suspicious Minds” by Elvis Presley

16. “Bad” by Michael Jackson. This reminded me of a group of guys I came to call my Georgia linemen. They were from Georgia, and stopped because they wondered what I was singing. (It was the song “How Far I’ll Go” from the Disney movie Moana.) Their co-worker provided the drum beat on the dashboard, which led to considerable ribbing from the other two. After that, each time they’d stop for a visit they would buy a paper IF the song playing was in the soundtrack of a movie! I was sad when their job laying fiber optic cable for Google ended, but we sure did have a lot of fun while they were in here.

17. “We Are The Champions” by Queen. This reminds me of EVERY football game I’ve ever watched. It’s played at EVERY game! It also serves as my mantra every time I overcome a difficult challenge in life.

18. “A Picture Of Me Without You” by George Jones

19. “This Love” by Maroon 5

20. “Class Of ‘57” by Statler Brothers

21. “Penny Lover” by Lionel Ritchie

22. “We Danced Anyway” by Deana Carter

23. “Any Man Of Mine” by Shania Twain

24. “I’m Already There” by Lonestar

25. “Better In Time” by Leona Lewis

26. “Fat-Bottomed Girls” by Queen. A big biker guy had this song blaring on his radio so I turned my music down and listened to his. His response? He said, “You’re a trip!” I told him, “I’ve heard that before!” We had a good laugh and he rode away. 2

7. “The Race Is On” by George Jones

28. “Ya’ll Come Back Saloon” by Oak Ridge Boys. Yet another one of my mom’s favorites.

29. “I’m Still Standing” by Elton John) I’m ALWAYS proud at the end of the day IF I am still able to stand!)

30. “It Will Rain” by Bruno Mars. This song got me $5 and an unopened bag of broccoli salad, YUM! (Even Avani likes broccoli!)

31. “Somebody Like You” by Kieth Urban

32. “You Should Be Dancing” by The Bee Gees

33. “Even Now” by Barry Manilow