The story/flash/vignette
"Selling Magazines to the Joneses"
is in the current issue of BlazeVOX,
a great magazine, put out by Geoffrey Gatza, with a broad range of poetry and fiction and creative non-fiction. In their own words,
they are a publisher of "weird little books."
Gatza was named
as one of The Top 200 Advocates for American
Poetry (2013)
@ the Huffington Post.
"Selling Magazines to the Joneses"
is another section from the manuscript
"How the World was Made."
This very short story (mood piece, really)
is based on a time when I sold magazines door to door.
Desperate for money, I joined something that I knew was a con.
It was a world of lost boys and girls.
It was a long time ago.
I updated it.
Here's an excerpt of the story:
Selling Magazines to the Joneses
1.
I saw a flyer posted on a streetlight pole: Earn, earn…travel, travel. I knew it was
a con – but I’d just been kicked out of the house and it seemed like something
that would keep a roof over my head for a while. I called the number on the
flyer. The voice on the other end gave me a room number at the Motel 6 out by
the airport.
I was ushered into a tiny room on the motel’s second floor
by a guy in a rumpled suit. There were two others in the room with me who
wanted “to earn and travel," a girl and a guy, both around my age. Rumpled
Suit launched into a little speech about the exciting career of selling
magazine subscriptions door-to-door. He seemed genuinely excited.
2.
That night I was sitting in a white van with the other new
recruits, heading north toward Oakland. We ended up at another Motel 6, located
in a used-to-be kind of place, near a row of ancient warehouses and a crumbling
off-ramp truck stop where no trucks stopped anymore. There was a pool hall next
door.
Two middle-aged guys – one thin, one fat – ran the
sales-game freak show. Bob and Terry. They gave us a short, stupid speech about
how they would pay for our room and board for the first week but after that we
had to score enough magazine subscriptions to earn our own keep. Hopefully,
we’d earn far more than that, they said...
You can read the rest
**************************
Today is #NoDAPL Day of Action
around the world
Support the Indigenous led movement to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline
You can find actions happening
across the US
at 350.org
or at #NoDAPL Solidarity
If you don't have anything happening near you, you can:
Donate directly to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe to support their fight
Read the Sacred Stone Camp Supply List and contribute
Contribute directly to the Sacred Stone Camp Legal Defense Fund
Chip into the Sacred Stone Camp GoFundMe page
If you are a customer of these banks, you can
call their customers service or press contact lines and demand that they
drop funding for the pipeline:
Bank DNBCustomer service: +47 915 04 800
Press: +47 400 16 744, Even.Westerveld@dnb.no
Press: +47 400 16 744, Even.Westerveld@dnb.no
Deutsche Bank
Customer service: +1 212 250 2500
Press: +1 212 250 7171, press-media-relations.
Renee Calabro, Head of Press Office: +1 212 250 5525 renee.calabro@db.com
Citibank
Customer service: +1 888 248 4226
Press: +1 212 793 0710
HSBC
Customer service: +1 800 975 4722
Press: +44 20 7991 8096, pressoffice@hsbc.com
ING
Customer service: +1 877 886 5050
Press office: +31 20 576 5000
Raymond Vermeulen, Head of Media Relations: +31 20 576 63 69 raymond.vermeulen@ing.com
Royal Bank of Canada
Customer service: +1 800 769 2553
Press contacts:
(Atlantic Canada) Lori Smith; Office: +1 902 421 8121 Email: lori.smith@rbc.com
(Quebec) Denis Dube; Office: +1 514 874 6556 Email: denis.dube@rbc.com
(Toronto) Mark Hamill; Office: +1 416 974 3900 Email: mark.hamill@rbc.com
(Ontario South West) Saira Husain; Office: +1 905 639 5404 Email: saira.husain@rbc.com
(Ontario North and East) Anika Reza; Office: +1 613 291 3520 Email: anika.reza@rbc.com
(Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario) Robb Ritch Office: +1 204 988 3516 Email: robb.ritchie@rbc.com
(Alberta, NWT, Yukon and Nunavut) Pamela Brown; Office: +1 403 292 3372 Email: pamela.brown@rbc.com
(British Columbia) Ian Colvin; Office: +1 604 665 4031 Email: ian.colvin@rbc.com
TD
Customer service: +1 888 751 9000
Press contact: Judith.Schmidt@td.com
TD Securities
Customer Service: +1 866 222 3456
TD Corporate and Public Affairs, Alison Ford: +1 416 982 5401
TD Investor Relations: +1 416 308 9030
Credit Suisse
Customer service: +11 41 848 880 844
Press contact: Tel. +41 844 33 88 44
Email: media.relations@credit-suisse.
(USA) Karina Byrne: +1 212 538 83 61
(EMEA/UK) Christiana Marran (Head Communications EMEA/UK): +44 207 888 89 11
(Switzerland) Christoph Meier (Head Media Relations): +41 44 334 58 88
UBS
Customer service: +1 800 354 9103
Press contact: +1 212 882 5857
Royal Bank of Scotland
Customer service: +11 44 118 373 2181
Press contact: +44131 523 4205
Chris Turner, Director of Media Relations: +44 20 7672 4515
Societe Generale
Customer relations: +33 1 42 14 31 69
Press contact: +33 1 42 13 23 49
Florence Schwob, Media Relations Manager: florence.schwob@socgen.com
Credit Agricole
Customer service: service.client@ca-paris.fr, +33 1 44 73 26 74
LCL Banque et Assurance: + 33 1 42 95 70 00
BBVA
Customer Service: +1 800 266 7277
Christina Anderson, Press contact: +1 205 524 5214 christina.anderson@bbva.com
Al Ortiz, Press contact: +1 281 433 5640 al.ortiz@bbva.com
BNP Paribas
Customer Service: +33 157 082 200 (worldwide)
Press: pressoffice.paris@bnpparibas.
Julia Boyce, Head of Media Relations: julia.boyce@bnpparibas.com
Scotiabank
Customer Service: +1 800 472 6842
Rick Roth, Media Relations: +1 416 933 1795, rick.roth@scotiabank.com
Kate Simandl, Media Relations: +1 416 866 6806, kate.simandl@scotiabank.com
SunTrust
Customer Service: +1 800 786 8787
Sue Mallino, Chief Communications Officer: +1 404 813 0463, sue.mallino@suntrust.com
Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ
Customer Service: +1 800 2121 1034 (international toll free, where available), +81 3 3512 5105, customercare@my.mufg.jp
Press for MUFJ (financial group parent company):
Lauren Sambrotto: +1 212 782 4909, lsambrotto@us.mufg.jp
Daniel Weidman: +1 213 236 4050 dweidman@us.mufg.jp
Mizuho Bank
Customer Service: +120 324 638, contact.us@uk.mizuho-sc.com
Patrick Phalon, VP Media Relations: 212 282 3867
ABN Amro Capital
Customer Service: +31 10 241 1720
Hans van Zon, Head of Public Relations: +31 20 383 4483, hans.van.zon@nl.abnamro.com
Brigitte Seegers, Senior International Press Officer: +31 20 628 3365, brigitte.seegers@nl.abnamro.
Customer service: +1 212 250 2500
Press: +1 212 250 7171, press-media-relations.
Renee Calabro, Head of Press Office: +1 212 250 5525 renee.calabro@db.com
Citibank
Customer service: +1 888 248 4226
Press: +1 212 793 0710
HSBC
Customer service: +1 800 975 4722
Press: +44 20 7991 8096, pressoffice@hsbc.com
ING
Customer service: +1 877 886 5050
Press office: +31 20 576 5000
Raymond Vermeulen, Head of Media Relations: +31 20 576 63 69 raymond.vermeulen@ing.com
Royal Bank of Canada
Customer service: +1 800 769 2553
Press contacts:
(Atlantic Canada) Lori Smith; Office: +1 902 421 8121 Email: lori.smith@rbc.com
(Quebec) Denis Dube; Office: +1 514 874 6556 Email: denis.dube@rbc.com
(Toronto) Mark Hamill; Office: +1 416 974 3900 Email: mark.hamill@rbc.com
(Ontario South West) Saira Husain; Office: +1 905 639 5404 Email: saira.husain@rbc.com
(Ontario North and East) Anika Reza; Office: +1 613 291 3520 Email: anika.reza@rbc.com
(Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario) Robb Ritch Office: +1 204 988 3516 Email: robb.ritchie@rbc.com
(Alberta, NWT, Yukon and Nunavut) Pamela Brown; Office: +1 403 292 3372 Email: pamela.brown@rbc.com
(British Columbia) Ian Colvin; Office: +1 604 665 4031 Email: ian.colvin@rbc.com
TD
Customer service: +1 888 751 9000
Press contact: Judith.Schmidt@td.com
TD Securities
Customer Service: +1 866 222 3456
TD Corporate and Public Affairs, Alison Ford: +1 416 982 5401
TD Investor Relations: +1 416 308 9030
Credit Suisse
Customer service: +11 41 848 880 844
Press contact: Tel. +41 844 33 88 44
Email: media.relations@credit-suisse.
(USA) Karina Byrne: +1 212 538 83 61
(EMEA/UK) Christiana Marran (Head Communications EMEA/UK): +44 207 888 89 11
(Switzerland) Christoph Meier (Head Media Relations): +41 44 334 58 88
UBS
Customer service: +1 800 354 9103
Press contact: +1 212 882 5857
Royal Bank of Scotland
Customer service: +11 44 118 373 2181
Press contact: +44131 523 4205
Chris Turner, Director of Media Relations: +44 20 7672 4515
Societe Generale
Customer relations: +33 1 42 14 31 69
Press contact: +33 1 42 13 23 49
Florence Schwob, Media Relations Manager: florence.schwob@socgen.com
Credit Agricole
Customer service: service.client@ca-paris.fr, +33 1 44 73 26 74
LCL Banque et Assurance: + 33 1 42 95 70 00
BBVA
Customer Service: +1 800 266 7277
Christina Anderson, Press contact: +1 205 524 5214 christina.anderson@bbva.com
Al Ortiz, Press contact: +1 281 433 5640 al.ortiz@bbva.com
BNP Paribas
Customer Service: +33 157 082 200 (worldwide)
Press: pressoffice.paris@bnpparibas.
Julia Boyce, Head of Media Relations: julia.boyce@bnpparibas.com
Scotiabank
Customer Service: +1 800 472 6842
Rick Roth, Media Relations: +1 416 933 1795, rick.roth@scotiabank.com
Kate Simandl, Media Relations: +1 416 866 6806, kate.simandl@scotiabank.com
SunTrust
Customer Service: +1 800 786 8787
Sue Mallino, Chief Communications Officer: +1 404 813 0463, sue.mallino@suntrust.com
Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ
Customer Service: +1 800 2121 1034 (international toll free, where available), +81 3 3512 5105, customercare@my.mufg.jp
Press for MUFJ (financial group parent company):
Lauren Sambrotto: +1 212 782 4909, lsambrotto@us.mufg.jp
Daniel Weidman: +1 213 236 4050 dweidman@us.mufg.jp
Mizuho Bank
Customer Service: +120 324 638, contact.us@uk.mizuho-sc.com
Patrick Phalon, VP Media Relations: 212 282 3867
ABN Amro Capital
Customer Service: +31 10 241 1720
Hans van Zon, Head of Public Relations: +31 20 383 4483, hans.van.zon@nl.abnamro.com
Brigitte Seegers, Senior International Press Officer: +31 20 628 3365, brigitte.seegers@nl.abnamro.
Call the decision-makers to tell them to stop this pipeline:
Army Corps of Engineers
Demand that they reverse the permit to build the pipeline: (202) 761-5903
Energy Transfer Partners (the company building the pipeline)
Lee Hanse, Executive Vice President: (210) 403-6455, Lee.Hanse@energytransfer.com
Glenn Emery, Vice President: (210) 403-6762, Glenn.Emery@energytransfer.com
Michael (Cliff) Waters, Lead Analyst: (713) 989-2404, Michael.Waters@energytransfer.
North Dakota governor Jack Dalrymple
Demand that he stop the use of state violence against peaceful protestors: (701) 328-2200.
As the poet Kenneth Patchen once said:
"Hallelujah anyway."
