| Wednesday, May 19, 2004 |
| Prudential Men |
They just won't stop comin'!
or, Adventures in Prudential Land
"The Prudential monsters are coming!!"
Had 3 of 'em today. In an hour! Plus the last 2 encounters with the same guy, that's 5 in total. Beat my record!
At this point, if you're thinking dirty, stop that train of thought! Lol.
What I mean is, I keep getting accosted by these Prudential people (Look I am doing them a favour by linking to their website). And coincidentally (or not), they're all young men. I never get the old fogies or the ladies. =P And out of the 4, 3 of them are actually quite cute. Cheap thrill. Still, it's kind of annoying when I'm trying to get somewhere and I really can't be bothered to go to the trouble of setting up a new account blah blah blah...
The very first time I got accosted was at the Pasir Ris interchange, this kind of geeky cute fellow with rather crooked teeth. Yeah, the teeth were kind of gross...I actually took a card from him because my parents control my bank account and I thought maybe I'd show my parents the card and ask them to call him. But when I got home I couldn't really be bothered anymore. He looked to be about my age, but when I looked at his card, it said that he had a Bachelor's in Accounting, with Honours. Prudential Advisor.
Second time round, I recognised him from afar and tried to walk off tangent to avoid him, but did not manage to escape. He asked if I would take a short survey, and I told him I'd actually spoken to him before, and he said he was sorry he didn't remember me, he talks to so many people a day. He asked me what my response was. "Not interested," I said firmly. He asked why. I gave him the story about my parents again, and said that I don't think they'd want to change accounts. That settled it.
Great, I thought. The "parents" word works! Haha!
Third time was this afternoon at Pasir Ris again. This plain and slightly plump fella with black rimmed glasses. I took control first by asking if he was from Prudential after he asked if I would take a short survey, said the "parents" word and he let me go. Whew!
However, my perilous journey through Prudential Land was not to end so uneventfully....
Forth time at Tampines. Again, tried to avoid the fellow, but when Prudential advisors lock their eyes on their prey they don't let go so easily. Besides, the whole place was teeming with them. Virtually impossible to escape. This one, however, was dashing. I mean really knock-your-socks-off, underlined, boldened, italic-ed charming. He looked even younger than the geeky cute one. He was practically glowing and radiating confidence. I wouldn't be surprised if that was actually the countenance of God...Well, I caved in, ended up giving my handphone number...before that he even persuaded me to listen to their Fabulous Plan even though I was zoning out and I think he could tell. Sharp. I actually wanted to get him to call my parents' office but he asked if I could tell them about it first before he called. I was like, oh ok.
He asked for my name then told me his name, and I almost laughed cos' my church friend has the same name...Let's say his name is Shawn (not real name). "Common name, I know. A lot of people are called Shawn."
I said that I know somebody called Shawn and he said that he knows 5 of them.
He said he'd call me at 10PM, and when I left, for some reason I said, "See you," like he was an old friend. Well, he did seem really friendly and easy to chat with. He asked quite a few personal questions. This guy has really good PR skills. Knows how to put people at ease. Plus, he's really cute. Ga-ga. LOL.
Further down, I was accosted for the fifth time. This one was not bad-looking either, but he was somewhat effeminate and over muscular (for me that is). He seemed sort of hyper. Telling him that I'd already spoken to Shawn back there didn't work. How very competitive. The "parents" word did not work at all (by then I was running late for my appointment) because he said that maybe I could start an account by myself. He was very chatty and seemed somewhat easily excitable. We were at this spot in the interchange where we kept blocking the way of other people and at one point this blind old lady actually hit me accidentally with her walking stick. The whole situation was actually pretty amusing. He wanted to tell me about The Fabulous Plan but I told him that I was running late. I only wanted to put down my home number (Which I usually don't answer anyway and is disconnected when I'm online. When my parents want to find me, they call my handphone) but he went, "Is there a handphone number you'd like to give me?" As it is, I was holding my handphone, so...no choice. I could have told him I'd prefer not to give it to him, but my resistance had worn thin.
Maybe this is their strategy. Break down the prey's defense with lots of charm and talk and persistance, then in for the kill, and share the meat.
Finally he let me off and by then I was at least 20 minutes off schedule.
Saw an amusing sight of this man almost shouting, "Got account already!" to this lady and then blundering past, leaving her standing somewhat dazed in his wake.
I have realised 2 things from this thing though:
1. The young cute ones seem to have better PR skills.
2. I'm come a long long long way since my painfully shy days. I actually know how to make small talk with total strangers who're really just after my $$$. Haha. And take control of the situation with some.
Sheena (as a response to my SMS that I couldn't believe I'd been accosted 3 times in 1 hour): "Oh no! Prudential monsters are coming to eat us up! Help! Help! Run! Haha! *grinz*"
Prudential monsters didn't call after all. =P Relieved, but I wouldn't mind terribly if Shawn called. xP
Disclaimer: If you happen to be reading this and you work for Prudential, I mean no offense at all. =D |
posted by esther @ 12:08 AM  |
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