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    Thoughts on Underwear and other Essentials
    Thoughts on Underwear and other Essentials
    Thoughts on Underwear and other Essentials
    Ebook134 pages1 hour

    Thoughts on Underwear and other Essentials

    By Estelle Hough

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    About this ebook

    The characters and behavior of people are so interesting. We all try our best, sometimes succeed, sometimes mess up, make do and compromise. Life is simply better when we can laugh a little.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEstelle Hough
    Release dateSep 5, 2014
    ISBN9780620626668
    Thoughts on Underwear and other Essentials
    Author

    Estelle Hough

    I live on a smallholding in South Africa. I have degrees in psychology and literature, and my interests lie in enhancing life for all. You can contact me through my website, or my blog: Through my window.

    Read more from Estelle Hough

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      Book preview

      Thoughts on Underwear and other Essentials - Estelle Hough

      Thoughts on Underwear and other essentials

      Written and illustrated by Estelle Hough

      Copyright 2014 Estelle Hough

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      Thank you for downloading this e-book. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

      International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

      978-0-620-62666-8

      Contents

      Chapter 1: Detour to wealth

      Chapter 2: Styles to suit

      Chapter 3: Wealth of poverty

      Chapter 4: Toys

      Chapter 5: God knows

      Chapter 6: Beating the system

      Chapter 7: Superman

      Chapter 8: Bribery and corruption

      Chapter 9: Souls forever

      Chapter 10: Beauty

      Chapter 11: Appearances

      Chapter 12: Reality

      Chapter 13: Pizza and cookies

      Chapter 14: Dream travel

      Chapter 15: Great kids

      Chapter 16: Broke again

      Chapter 17: Enchantress

      Chapter 18: TV

      Chapter 19: Give me strength

      Chapter 20: Sexually speaking

      Chapter 21: Mom and the hospital

      Chapter 22: Cheap thrills

      Chapter 23: Spaceships

      Chapter 24: Road to Oudtshoorn

      Chapter 25: Back to our roots

      Chapter 26: Predictions

      Chapter 27: Flying solo

      Chapter 28: All that glitters

      Chapter 29: Experts

      Chapter 30: Smoking at the ears

      Chapter 31: Noisy Mom

      Chapter 32: Fascination

      Chapter 33: Ou-nooi

      Chapter 34: Amongst grown-ups

      Chapter 35: Guardian angel

      Chapter 36: Ghost on the stoep

      Chapter 37: Mom’s new lease

      Chapter 38: Ghost on the stoep

      Chapter 39: Christmas stocking

      Chapter 40: Paw-paw

      About Estelle Hough

      Other books by Estelle Hough

      Connect with Estelle Hough

      Introduction

      Traveling salesladies spend time with customers and a lot of time in their car, which gives them an opportunity to contemplate the ways of the world, even if only to wonder about those customers who tell her: ‘No, thank you very much. I don’t wear underwear.

      She can spend time expanding her own views of her product, for instance on how supportive underwear can be – not only to body parts. They are also great defense mechanisms. Oh, and they’re good mood swingers… imagine...

      Even older women decide to put a bit of stick in their marriages when the thought occurs. I once sold a red lace G-string to a lady who was fairly wide and over sixty. Her words to me were: ‘Tonight’s the night I’ll shock and surprise my husband out of that armchair.’

      Chapter 1: Detour to wealth

      When you are young it is easy to picture yourself as an important organizer in the affairs of men. You live and love, while you work your little backside off for someone else. But, when you reach thirty, feel for support underneath you and there is nothing, not one asset to speak of … you begin to panic.

      A few attempts at reaching for the stars and not getting there may convince you that you are one of those people who after all belong with those who have both feet firmly on the ground.

      You carry on in your humble way, starting your own business. Say you become a stallholder. While your bottom gets sore from not jumping up to sell something you have ‘Made yourself’ and you develop either a permanent cold or your nose tan, you wonder at the viability of the: ‘Make a fortune in your spare time while working from home.’ advertisements.

      After you have tried them and discovered that there lies the most work for the least amount of money – indeed, often you pay the advertiser – that is when you decide to start out on yet another career. (After all, the essence of commerce lies in sales.) You may then become a salesperson, or to put it bluntly, a hawker. My line happened to be undergarments.

      I liked the idea, because we had just moved down to George in the Cape, where no-one knew me, the product could be hidden in a folder which does not weigh much, and I could buy direct from a factory, so in essence be my own boss.

      If you live in a town like George, South Africa, it takes about 3 months at a 2 to 3 hour stretch to call on every business in town as well as the industrial area. Then you do the surrounding towns of Mossel Bay, Oudtshoorn and Knysna, including villages like Great Brak River and Sedgefield. About 10 months later you’re back to George where by this time the market has changed: One or two people would have realized they like your product, some housewives would’ve swapped places with working women, and others will never buy from you again if you’re the last vendor on earth.

      George lies at the foot of the Outiniqua Mountains, about 15 kilometers from the sea. The mountains enjoy collecting clouds, so the weather isn’t as fine as Mossel Bay 50 kilometers away, but the rain makes it an excellent area for vegetables, and it is almost always green.

      What I enjoy about George is that you can queue at the ATM and contemplate the mountains at the same time. Although the town (city, technically) is relatively busy, there are no tall buildings – hopefully never will be.

      When you come from a city like Johannesburg, the first thing you learn about a town is that it is not that easy to find work. Don’t even ask what the pay is. When I arrived the salary scale could only be described as broken.

      I once phoned about landscaping work. A quivery voice (I could tell he’d lived his whole life in George) answered the phone. First he described the hours; 7am till 6pm weekdays. Also Saturdays, that was from 7am – 2pm. You’d have to have a strong back, he emphasized. When I tentatively mentioned remuneration he offered a below the breadline salary, but promised that if I really knew my business, he would raise it to what a rookie in Johannesburg wouldn’t have worked for part-time.

      Eventually you create your own work. Unfortunately, salary structures have an effect on buying power. Luckily there are lightweight items you can carry from place to place, like underwear, which we all need. Or so I thought until I began selling it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished I could peek under the dresses of women who told me they don’t wear any.

      At least, basic everyday underwear doesn’t cost as much as, say, an overcoat. When you use a folder or briefcase, chances are you can get past the front door of the business.

      There is a moral dilemma involved with hawking. It is that employees don’t like looking at stuff in their own time, while their bosses prefer that they do. As there are more employees than employers, you sell during business hours, hoping not to get caught and salving your conscience by thinking that workers will return more readily to work after a break.

      Selling in your home town has the advantages of

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