Dill pickle economics
My family owned and operated a small town store in the middle of the tallgrass prairie of the Flint Hills during my growing up years. Many lessons were learned .
One such lesson taught me the difference between paying for what you want and free distribution — getting something you didn't order and don't want. We'll call it "dill pickle economics."
My father was a character with a capital K, quick witted and blessed with the ability to score deftly, right on target.
One day the tobacco salesman stopped by to get the regular order for his drop shipment. Dad ordered some Days Work, Horse Shoe, Red Man, and Mail Pouch tobacco. The bight-eyed salesman said, "You get a case of George Washington free when you order a case of Mail Pouch."
Dad replied that he didn't want any George Washington, "they don't like it."
But the salesman persisted. Eventually he had the George Washington written on his order sheet.
Then he suggested, "let's have a Coke." Dad went to the pop cooler to get a bottle of the popular soda pop and stopped by the meat display case to get a dill pickle. He put the pickle in a paper boat and handed it to the young man along with his bottle of Coke.
The guy protested, "I didn't want a dill pickle." Dad replied, "In this establishment, when you purchase a Coke you get a dill pickle free of charge."
The salesman quickly scratched the George Washington.
— BILL MEYER
