And I'm surprised one lunch to see the laundry guy in...he's in his biking leathers, not his usual work uniform, he's here to see the owner of the restaurant, has a business proposition for him...
I leave it alone, he's a nice guy, it's none of my business. And while the owner has made time for this appointment with him, and we've only a single table in the restaurant, he makes him wait ... it's a power thing I've noticed, his way of proving his authority over all the minions that fall within his domain, service people, employees, customers...
Laundry guy waits, an hour or so, finally he's joined by a better dressed friend - "Used to own his own business" he tells me, he's clearly impressed, and the owner then takes a few minutes to meet with them in the private room...
It's a short audience, he excuses himself, he's lots to worry about with his childcare payments, girlfriends, etc, maybe they should talk to me instead.
Of course. And so they do, and I enquire politely what it is they do, and they tell me, rather vaguely and in a roundabout fashion, that they help people to collect residuals on essential services, like cell-phone and electricity bills, things that people have to pay for.
Now I've got it, it's a multi-level marketing scam, pyramid scheme, there's a sucker born every minute, but I'm polite and ask general questions which they generally evade but have I heard of Donald Trump? He's an interested party...no, it's good, it will be great, and while they can't direct me to a website to do some research they can leave me this glossy magazine...
Like the Jehova's Witnesses, or Amway suckers, only their magazine is way glossier, "SUCCESS FROM HOME", with articles and titles like "Eric Trump: Stepping Out of the Shadow", as if he's some sort of Luke Skywalker living in his pa's reputation, and "FREE SERVICES: Free Kids from Hunger - It doesn't get any simpler or more powerful than that". Flipping through the magazine it's a collection of stupid, glossy photos, a lifestyle aspiration magazine for the gullible and naive, commercialism as religion, motivational articles, "The Best that they can be", it's idiocy squared, cubed, but with a glossy cover and just enough attractive and wholesome looking numbskulls to make it appealing to a large audience...
This new scam, endorsed by Donald Trump, is exactly that, a MLM scheme whereby ACN buys bundled services from internet providers, cellular data companies, electricity companies, bundles them under it's own brand name and recruits suckers to market with the promise of a 'lifetimes worth of residuals".
There's one born every minute...