The Sales Gathering

Well, well, well....how the tide turns.
I went to the much anticipated and, just as equally, dreaded Sales Gathering tonight...so let me talk a little bit about that.
I have previously dissed the sales gathering as nothing more than a suped at attempt to lure well meaning friends into spending their hard earned cash on some hideously over-priced rubbish....well in general anyway.
So...where do I start....how about the beginning? Yes, how logical.
I knocked on the door...it opened. I was greeted with a toothy smile and through gritted teeth the "grumpy" neighbour invites me in with a "I am glad you came." Her gestures and energy were welcoming and friendly....I have learnt that the gritted teeth speech is just the way she talks...hmmmmm, interesting.
A group of about 6 women were seated in her warm sitting room. I was introduced immediately...the tealight candle lady was there. We chatted quite a bit. She was lovely. It was like we were starting over.
I was offered WINE.
'KEN OATH! I blurted in my head.
"Thank you, a red would be lovely", I said. Gee, I must have left the bumbling inner idiot at home.
As I sat down, I noticed some bowls of "product"...bejewelled stainless steel serving utensils - not a chip bowl, egg flipper, novelty oven mitt or three-tiered pineapple piece dispenser in sight -I could relax.
The group of women started talking. They all knew each other, but made sure I was included in the conversation. At no point did I feel like the outsider. We chatted about this and that for a good 45 minutes, the "crafter" too, before the host asked the "crafter" if she "had a thing to say or do". And with that, the formal part of the evening began.
There were no glossy brochures to dazzle and hypnotise, and no supply of pencils, because there were no order forms. What you saw was what you could buy and take home on the night. There was no placing an order and forgetting what the hell it was you were coerced into purchasing. Which kind of ruins the fun and surprise of opening the order you placed four weeks prior and pulling out some obscure object, while wondering if your scones were laced with some kind of drug for you to have purchased "THAT"! I am not complaining.
The sales schpeel was relaxed and disorganised and took all of 15 minutes - tops. Her non-sales style made it enjoyable in a way. She didn't go on about "the quality" or "the originality", or "the advantages" in buying her product. She made the items in front of us, so it was more or less like - this is what I do, this is what I have - this is what it costs....so if you like it...buy it.
After the sales schpeel, the host notified us that there was food in the other room.....yummy food, and more wine. We gathered up some food, topped up our glasses and chatted beside the products. The "crafter" went into another room to do the transactions. She was discreet, no pressure. If you wanted to buy something you could, and it wasn't obvious if some people didn't purchase. I even bought a couple of things - there were some good Christmas present ideas there.
After the formalities, we sat back down again; no one left. We talked for a few hours. We talked about places to see and things to do. Someone mentioned a local winery. Someone else mentioned that they hold cooking classes there. Someone else suggested we, as a group of women from the same street, take the class together. It sounded like a great idea to me. I said "I'm in".
The host is going to look into it and let us all know.
So there you go. I had FUN. I laughed. I got to know some people. I drank WINE. I may even have a further social engagement to go to at some stage in the future, and it is not another sales gathering. This wasn't a typical sales gathering. It was more like a..... hmmmmm, a party.