When I was a kid, some neighborhood vandals pulled the old TP-gag in my yard. They tossed a few rolls of paper in the trees and stormed off into the night. The next morning, we woke to a maple, sweet gum, and two oaks covered in Charmin-soft tinsel.
My dad howled (no, not with laughter). He sent my brother and me outside with a ladder and rakes to pull the TP from the trees. We retrieved a small mountain of torn tissue and lugged it to the trash, muttering the whole time about our rotten luck.
I was thinking of that pile of TP the other day while searching the internet for someone — anyone? — who would sell me a few rolls.
Can you believe I once tossed mountains of TP into the trash, I thought?
Long before the Great TP Shortage of 2020, the author David Sedaris grew up in North Carolina and knew a boy whose father did this when his house was TP’d:
He sent the boy out with a ladder and a rake to collect the TP. He instructed the boy to spread the wet TP (it had rained overnight) on the lawn. Once the TP dried, the boy spooled it back onto those cardboard tubes and placed the rolls in the bathroom closet.
I first heard David Sedaris tell that story before the pandemic. I thought, “That father is crazy!”
But times have changed. And now I think he’s an inspiration.
My family woke to TP in our yard and saw a disaster. Anger, grumbling, cursing our fate followed. There was nothing good that came out of it.
That father woke to TP in his yard and he saw opportunity. He was grateful to have a few rolls of free TP.
These are strange days. Pick your metaphor. For me, it kind of feels like the whole world has been TP’d.
The question for us is how we react. Do we grumble and curse our fate? Do we assume nothing good can come of this?
Or do we find opportunity, reflect on reasons to be grateful, count our blessings and push forward?
This is a good time to discover new ways to grow your business. If you want prospects to tune in, stay tuned and act, you have to deliver better business stories…
Sign up for a Story Assessment.
I’m offering free, 30-minute web conferences to review your business story. I will meet with you via Zoom and review how you’re telling your business story — on your website, social media, and other channels. Then, I’ll recommend steps you can take to help prospects and customers tune in and act.
I have a limited number of slots open on my calendar for these sessions. Please visit my calendar to book a time that works for you.
Thanks!
Tom
314-529-1431
tom@StoryUpMarketing.com
www.StoryUp Marketing