[00:00.00] Making a living as a door-to-door salesman demands a thick skin, both to protect against the weather
[00:07.94]and against constantly having the door shut in your face. Bill Porter puts up with all this and much, much more.
[00:18.26]LIFE OF A SALESMAN By Tom Hallman Jr.
[00:22.67]The alarm rings. It’s 5:45. He could linger under the covers, listening to the radio and a weatherman who predicts rain.
[00:31.66]People would understand. He knows that.
[00:35.00]2 A surgeon’s scar cuts across his lower back. The fingers on his right hand are so twisted that he can’t tie his shoes.
[00:38.35]Some days, he feels like surrendering. But his dead mother’s challenge echoes in his soul. So, too,
[00:46.81]do the voices of those who believed him stupid, incapable of living independently.
[00:53.29]All his life he’s struggled to prove them wrong. He will not quit.
[00:59.17]3 And so Bill Porter rises.
[01:03.03]4 He takes the first unsteady steps on a journey to Portland’s streets, the battlefield where he fights alone
[01:11.29]for his independence and dignity. He’s a door-to-door salesman. Sixty-three years old. And his enemies
[01:20.43]—a crippled body that betrays him and a changing world that no longer needs him—are gaining on him.
[01:27.67]5 With trembling hands he assembles his weapons: dark slacks, blue shirt and matching jacket, brown tie, tan raincoat and hat.
[01:38.59]Image, he believes, is everything.
[01:42.24]6 He stops in the entryway, picks up his briefcase and steps outside. A fall wind has kicked up.
[01:49.90]The weatherman was right. He pulls his raincoat tighter.
[01:54.65]7 He tilts his hat just so.
[01:57.39]8 On the 7:45 bus that stops across the street,
[02:01.65]he leaves his briefcase next to the driver and finds a seat in the middle of a pack of bored teenagers.
[02:08.78]9He leans forward,stares toward the driver,sits back,then repeats the process.His nervousness makes him laugh uncontrollably.
[02:19.10]The teenagers stare at him. They don’t realize Porter’s afraid someone will seal his briefcase,
[02:25.82]with the glasses, brochures, order forms and clip-on tie that he needs to survive.
[02:32.56]10 Porter senses the stares. He looks at the floor.
[02:36.89]11 His face reveals nothing. In his heart, though, he knows he should have been like these kids, like everyone on this bus.
[02:45.85]He’s not angry. But he knows. His mother explained how the delivery had been difficult,
[02:52.70]how the doctor had used an instrument that crushed a section of his brain and caused cerebral palsy,
[02:58.94]a disorder of the nervous system that affects his speech, hands and walk.
[03:05.18]12 Porter came to Portland when he was 13 after his father, a salesman, was transferred here.
[03:12.16]He attended a school for the disabled and then Lincoln High School, where he was placed in a class for slow kids.
[03:20.07]13 But he wasn’t slow.
[03:22.74]14 His mind was trapped in a body that didn’t work. Speaking was difficult and took time. People were impatient and didn’t listen.
[03:32.17]He felt different—was different—from the kids who rushed about in the halls and planned dances he would never attend.
[03:41.07]15 What could his future be? Porter wanted to do something and his mother was certain that he could rise above his limitations.
[03:49.62]With her encouragement, he applied for a job with the Fuller Brush CO. only to be turned down.
[03:56.51]He couldn’t carry a product briefcase or walk a route, they said.
[04:01.82]16 Porter knew he wanted to be a salesman. He began reading help wanted ads in the newspaper.
[04:08.89]When he saw one for Watkins, a company that sold household products door-to-door,
[04:14.80]his mother set up a meeting with a representative.The man said no,but Porter wouldn’t listen.
[04:21.51]He just wanted a chance.The man gave in and offered Porter a section of the city that no salesman wanted.
[04:29.56]17 It took Porter four false starts before he found the courage to ring the first doorbell.
[04:36.09]The man who answered told him to go away, a pattern repeated throughout the day.
[04:42.36]18 That night Porter read through company literature and discovered the products were guaranteed.
[04:48.76]He would sell that pledge. He just needed people to listen.
[04:53.59]19 If a customer turned him down, Porter kept coming back until they heard him. And he sold.
[05:00.96]20 For several years he was Watkins'top retail salesman.
[05:06.10]Now he is the only one of the company’s 44,000 salespeople who sells door-to-door.
[05:13.16]21 The bus stops in the Transit Mall, and Porter gets off.
[05:17.81]22His body is not made for walking.Each step strains his joints.Headaches are constant visitors.His right arm is nearly useless.
[05:28.31]He can’t fully control the limb. His body tilts at the waist; he seems to be heading into a strong,
[05:36.14]steady wind that keeps him off balance. At times, he looks like a toddler taking his first steps.
[05:44.11]23 He walks 10 miles a day.
[05:47.45]24 His first stop today, like every day, is a shoeshine stand where employees tie his laces.
[05:54.32]Twice a week he pays for a shine. At a nearby hotel one of the doormen buttons
[06:01.46]Porter’s top shirt button and slips on his clip-on tie.
[06:06.00]He then walks to another bus that drops him off a mile from his territory.
[06:11.30]25 He left home nearly three hours ago.
[06:14.67]26 The wind is cold and raindrops fall. Porter stops at the first house.
[06:20.94]This is the moment he’s been preparing for since 5:45 a.m. He rings the bell.
[06:27.19]27 A woman comes to the door.
[06:29.98]28 “Hello.”
[06:31.73]29 “No, thank you, I’m just preparing to leave.”
[06:35.02]30 Porter nods.
[06:37.22]31 “May I come back later?” he asks.
[06:40.27]32 “No,” says the woman.
[06:43.04]33 She shuts the door.
[06:45.39]34 Porter’s eyes reveal nothing.
[06:48.32]35 He moves to the next house.
[06:51.09]36 The door opens.
[06:53.10]37 Then closes.
[06:55.48]38 He doesn’t get a chance to speak. Porter’s expression never changes. He stops at every home in his territory.
[07:03.68]People might not buy now. Next time. Maybe. No doesn’t mean never.
[07:09.48]Some of his best customers are people who repeatedly turned him down before buying.
[07:15.30]39 He makes his way down the street.
[07:18.33]40 “I don’t want to try it.”
[07:20.76]41 “Maybe next time.”
[07:23.30]42 “I’am sorry. I’m no the phone right now.”
[07:26.30]43 “No.”
[07:28.44]44 Ninety minutes later, Porter still has not made a sale. But there is always another home.
[07:35.08]45 He walks on.
[07:37.20]46 He knocks on a door. A woman appears from the backyard there she’s gardening.
[07:42.89]She often buys, but not today, she says, as she walks away.
[07:46.42]47 “Are you sure?” Porter asks.
[07:49.42]48 She pauses.
[07:51.75]49 “Well…”
[07:53.55]50 That’s all Porter needs. He walks as fast as he can, tailing her as she heads to the backyard.
[08:00.57]He sets his briefcase down and opens it. He puts on his glasses, removes his brochures and begins his sales talk,
[08:09.12]showing the woman pictures and describing each product.
[08:13.22]51 Spices?
[08:15.46]52 “No.”
[08:17.37]53 Jams?
[08:19.17]54 “No. Maybe nothing today, Bill.”
[08:22.70]55 Porter’s hearing is the one perfect thing his body does.
[08:27.48]Except when he gets a live one. Then the word “no” does not register.
[08:33.02]56 Pepper?
[08:34.95]57 “No.”
[08:36.99]58 Laundry soap?
[08:39.03]59 “Hmm.”
[08:41.22]60 Porter stops. He smells blood. He quickly remembers her last order.
[08:47.23]61 “Say, aren’t you about out of soap? That’s what you bought last time. You ought to be out right about now.”
[08:54.60]62 “You’re right, Bill. I’ll take one.”
[08:57.60]63 He arrives home, in a rainstorm, after 7 p.m. Today was not profitable.
[09:04.63]He tells himself not to worry. Four days left in the week.
[09:09.36]64 At least he’s off his feet and home.
[09:13.04]65 Inside, an era is preserved. The telephone is a heavy, rotary model. There is no VCR, no cable.
[09:21.87]66 His is the only house in the neighborhood with a television antenna on the roof.
[09:27.28]67 He leads a solitary life. Most of his human contact comes on the job.
[09:33.28]Now, he heats the oven and slips in a frozen dinner because it’s easy to fix.
[09:40.21]68 The job usually takes him 10 hours.
[09:44.10]69 He’s a weary man who knows his days—no matter what his intentions—are numbered.
[09:50.05]70 He works on straight commission. He gets no paid holidays, vacations or raise. Yes, some months are lean.
[09:59.51]71 In 1993, he needed back surgery to relieve pain caused from decades of walking.
[10:06.51]He was laid up for five months and couldn’t work. He was forced to sell his house.
[10:12.39]The new owners, familiar with his situation, froze his rent and agreed to let him live there until he dies.
[10:20.98]72 He doesn’t feel sorry for himself.
[10:24.22]73 The house is only a building. A place to live, nothing more.
[10:28.92]74 His dinner is ready. He eats at the kitchen table and listens to the radio.
[10:34.91]The afternoon mail brought bills that he will deal with later this week. The checkbook is upstairs in the bedroom.
[10:42.48]75 His checkbook.
[10:45.17]76 He types in the recipient’s name and signs his name.
[10:49.59]77 The signature is small and scrawled.
[10:53.14]78 Unreadable.
[10:55.20]79 But he knows.
[10:57.66]80 Bill Porter, 81 Bill Porter, salesman.
[11:00.79]82 From his easy chair he hears the wind lash his house and the rain pound the street outside his home.
[11:08.60]He must dress warmly tomorrow. He’s sleepy. With great care he climbs the stairs to his bedroom.
[11:16.23]83 In time, the lights go off.
[11:19.55]84 Morning will be here soon.
[11:22.76]salesman linger weatherman surgeon
[11:27.69]推销员 磨蹭 气象员 外科医生
[11:32.61]scar battlefield dignity cripple
[11:38.74]伤疤 战场 尊严 使受伤致残
[11:44.86]betray gain on tremble slacks
[11:50.92]背叛 逼近 颤抖 宽松裤
[11:56.98]tan entryway briefcase kick up
[12:01.57]棕褐色 入口 公文包 踢起
[12:06.15]tilt lean brochure clip-on
[12:11.76]倾斜 倾斜 小册子 用夹子夹牢
[12:17.36]delivery section cerebral palsy
[12:22.56]分娩 部分 脑的 麻痹
[12:27.76]disorder transfer limitation apply for
[12:34.30]失调 调动 缺陷 申请
[12:40.84]Co. representative literature pledge
[12:46.11]公司 代表 宣传资料 保证
[12:51.37]retail transit mall strain
[12:56.05]零售 通行 购物中心 损伤
[13:00.72]joint useless limb waist
[13:07.50]关节 无效的 腿 腰
[13:14.28]off balance toddler shoeshine lace
[13:20.12]不平衡 学步的儿童 擦皮鞋 花边
[13:25.96]territory on the phone spice register
[13:31.42]领土 在打电话 调料 登记
[13:36.88]laundry profitable off one's feet VCR
[13:43.75]洗好的衣服 有益的 躺着 录象机
[13:50.62]antenna solitary oven commission
[13:56.38]天线 单独的 烤箱 佣金
[14:02.14]surgery be laid up(with) checkbook recipient
[14:08.12]外科手术 无法工作 支票簿 接受人
[14:14.10]signature scrawl unreadable lash
[14:19.68]签名 潦草地写 难以辨认的 鞭打
[14:26.57]及时 停止
