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Kid loves vacuum cleaners

by joe golfer
16 replies
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An autistic young man in Virginia has always loved vacuum cleaners, so his mom tried to get him a real live vacuum demo for his birthday. As they say in the viral headlines, "What happened next will amaze you!"

Vacuum salesman invited to birthday for a child with autism, moves room to tears | fox8.com
  • Profile picture of the author Alast
    I had always imagined Claude to look somewhat like his profile picture...
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  • Profile picture of the author WalkingCarpet
    Banned
    Joe must've been a kid waay back when.
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    • Profile picture of the author socialentry
      Originally Posted by WalkingCarpet View Post

      Joe must've been a kid waay back when.
      Why are you referring to Claude as Joe or Joseph?
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      • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
        I've had maybe 6 or 8 requests like this. They want to see how our vacuum cleans the air, or they want a demonstration as part of a series of demonstrations (to find the best vacuum).

        Invariably, they are really asking for a free machine.

        In this case, the parents could have simply bought their son the machine. But it's in their nature to ask for a demonstration...in the hopes of getting a free one.

        I wouldn't have done it.
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        • Profile picture of the author DWaters
          Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

          I've had maybe 6 or 8 requests like this. They want to see how our vacuum cleans the air, or they want a demonstration as part of a series of demonstrations (to find the best vacuum).

          Invariably, they are really asking for a free machine.

          In this case, the parents could have simply bought their son the machine. But it's in their nature to ask for a demonstration...in the hopes of getting a free one.

          I wouldn't have done it.
          You may be correct but I think it is unfair to assume that these people were just trying to get free vaccum. That is an assumption that may noy be true at all. The parents may simply have been looking for a unique and appropriate way to entertain their son for his birthday. I know that parents of autistic kids (such as my brother) have to deal with the unique interests and capabilities of the child.

          On the other hand - weather a "free" vaccum ever works in the equation or not this provides a good opportunity for the vauum salesman and the company to (A) do something good and meaningful for the family and (B) get some decent PR from it.
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          • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
            Originally Posted by DWaters View Post

            You may be correct but I think it is unfair to assume that these people were just trying to get free vaccum. That is an assumption that may noy be true at all. The parents may simply have been looking for a unique and appropriate way to entertain their son for his birthday. I know that parents of autistic kids (such as my brother) have to deal with the unique interests and capabilities of the child.
            And they could have done that, and more...by simply buying the vacuum for their kid (and for their own use, of course)

            I don't know that they were simply trying to get a free vacuum. I do know that I've been in similar situations, and the request for a free vacuum cleaner is at the end of that story.

            If the people are pastors of a church, head a non-profit, or have a special needs kid (that the vacuum would somehow help), the request for a free vacuum is almost certain.

            I'm only going by 35 years of selling vacuum cleaners. I may be wrong in this exact case.

            And I've had the "This will be great PR" pitch from prospects as well. "Great PR" easily translates to "I want a free vacuum cleaner".

            If you sold vacuum cleaners for 35 years, you'd see this differently.

            I get the same requests for my books. The request always has a reason behind it...but it means "I want a free book".



            If you think the vacuum salesman should give the vacuum as a way to do something nice for the family..why don't you buy a new $2,000 Kirby vacuum cleaner, and give it to a family? Don't you want to do something nice for them?
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            • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
              I have all Claude's books on selling vacuum cleaners. Worth every penny. 100% content and no Fluff.
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      • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
        Originally Posted by socialentry View Post

        Why are you referring to Claude as Joe or Joseph?
        Somehow, he thinks it's funny. But Joe isn't a funny name. Claude is a funny name. And, he has one joke...that I'm bald.

        I've offered him better subjects to insult me with. For example;

        I'm a bedwetter
        I 'm overweight
        I have ED.
        I'm not allowed, by law, within one mile of any school.
        I've cheated on my wife, but only with the voices in my head.
        I classify people as a "Friend", if they haven't called the police on me yet.
        Dogs hate me, even ones that have never met me.

        WalkingCarpet needs two things in life;
        1) A new and better way to insult me (study the work of Riffle and Kurt, for pointers)
        2) A shirt. Any shirt.
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        • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
          Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

          Somehow, he thinks it's funny. But Joe isn't a funny name. Claude is a funny name. And, he has one joke...that I'm bald.

          I've offered him better subjects to insult me with. For example;

          I'm a bedwetter
          I 'm overweight
          I have ED.
          I'm not allowed, by law, within one mile of any school.
          I've cheated on my wife, but only with the voices in my head.
          I classify people as a "Friend", if they haven't called the police on me yet.
          Dogs hate me, even ones that have never met me.

          WalkingCarpet needs two things in life;
          1) A new and better way to insult me (study the work of Riffle and Kurt, for pointers)
          2) A shirt. Any shirt.
          Hmmm, probably too much choice!


          As for the "Joe" thing, all l can say on that matter is l watch a lot of MASH, and the local inhabitants tend to call the MASH personal "Joe"!

          So there is probably a suttle ethnic joke there somewhere, but l won't discuss the details without a lawyer or a bottle of Gin?

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          Archimedes-The Truth Seekers Forum..
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        • Profile picture of the author discrat
          Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

          Somehow, he thinks it's funny. But Joe isn't a funny name. Claude is a funny name. And, he has one joke...that I'm bald.

          I've offered him better subjects to insult me with. For example;

          I'm a bedwetter
          I 'm overweight
          I'm a Pro - "Bono" Psychopath
          I have ED.
          I'm not allowed, by law, within one mile of any school.
          I've cheated on my wife, but only with the voices in my head.
          I classify people as a "Friend", if they haven't called the police on me yet.
          Dogs hate me, even ones that have never met me.


          WalkingCarpet needs two things in life;
          1) A new and better way to insult me (study the work of Riffle and Kurt, for pointers)
          2) A shirt. Any shirt.
          Fixed that for you
          Signature

          Nothing to see here including a Sig so just move on :)

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          • Profile picture of the author Kay King
            I think this was just as nice as the UPS kid getting his little truck from UPS.

            A Kirby vacuum is expensive and families dealing with a special needs child might not have the money for such a "toy". The demonstration was a great idea - how excited he must have been to discuss his "favorite" vacuum cleaner with a "real expert" - a Kirby salesman!

            Question is - how soon will their carpet wear out with constant vacuuming?
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
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    • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
      Yes, autistic kids get off on simple things; I was at a coffee shop and an autistic kids sat near me, he amused himself for a good hour, with the sugar sachets!

      He seemed to be organizing them, pity though, a Playstation might help with coordination, etc?

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      Archimedes-The Truth Seekers Forum..
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      In my life, I've actually heard this from customers;
      "I was vacuuming my driveway.... when all of a sudden...."
      "I was using the vacuum to unclog my toilet, and I can't believe that it......."
      "I was sucking out the hot coals from my fire place, when my vacuum started melting......"


      Humans.
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  • Profile picture of the author FreedomBlogger
    Very cool!!
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    • Profile picture of the author Tom B
      Banned
      Strange, I just purchased a used Kirby from a kid that looked similar to the one in that article. I was surprised at how great a deal I got!
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