Push It

A great salesman will make a claim with enough conviction and confidence that he can actually will people to believe in the claim -- no matter how outrageous. And, unfortunately, I can be easy prey to that kind of salesmanship.

I have a buddy from Sweden who could sell ice to the Eskimos. This guy was made for sales -- good looking, impeccably dressed, and 100% confident in everything he says. A few months ago, we were catching up over a cocktail at a downtown bar when the 1980s hit Push It, by Salt-N-Pepa, started playing on the jukebox. My buddy’s eyes lit up and he told me that, not only was this his favorite song in middle school, but that Salt-N-Pepa were from Sweden. Now every fiber in my being told me that this claim was absurd. However, when I politely objected to the statement, he was immovable. He was willing to wager the evening’s cocktails on the claim and he defended his assertion with so much conviction, that I figured he must know something that I didn’t. It turns out that Salt-N-Pepa are from New York and that Push It was simply popular in Sweden. However, I left the bar believing he was right and I was ready to impress people with this fun piece of trivia.

I had a similar experience during this evening’s episode, during Jay’s “Daddy IQ Test.” Rosie asked Jay when “tummy time” was supposed to start. Without a second’s hesitation, Jay asserted that tummy time “starts at conception.” My first instinct was to laugh. I spent countless hours supervising JR and Wells as they strengthened their neck and upper back muscles during tummy time. With each child, we started tummy time soon after they got home from the hospital. Along those lines, Jay’s comment made absolutely no sense whatsoever. However, there was something in his tone. It was the “I know something that you don’t” tone and he sold it very well. (As a side note -- It’s no surprise that Jay has had so much success in business. He seems to work around the clock and he has tremendous confidence in his convictions).Rosie and I were watching the episode together. So I giggled during the “tummy time starts at conception” claim. I didn’t want her to think I was questioning my own understanding of tummy time. However, Jay had so much confidence in his assertion that I found myself wondering if there was another angle to the tummy time story.

I thought I played it off cool and that Rosie didn’t notice my doubt. Unfortunately, Rosie knows me better than I know myself. She knew I was preoccupied with the tummy time claim the moment it came out of Jay’s mouth and that I planned on doing some research after the episode to see if I had missed something. So she decided to have a little fun at my expense:

Rosie: How about that tummy time response?

Me: I know. That was hysterical.

Rosie: Everyone knows that tummy time starts in the second trimester and not at conception! (Obviously, Rosie was joking…at my expense!)