I Sell, Therefore I Am

We Americans are funny creatures. Actually humans are funny creatures in generally and I do not say so from a soapbox. I am just as funny a creature.

One of the funniest things I ever did was identify myself with my employment. Boy, is that ever a loser's game, especially today, which is much different than our parent's generation when one of the first questions upon shaking hands was “And what do you do?”, prior to business cards being exchanged.

Even today in many parts of the country this archaic primal dance occurs. While living in Washington, D.C it was more of a test or a drill. The questions would come at me like an automatic machine gun.

“What do you do? What college did you get your post, post, post graduate degree from?”

Of course I wanted to answer, “I'm a writer, and it would make you appear smarter if you did not end your sentence in a preposition. The correct grammar is “From what college did you receive your post, post, post graduate degree?”

Fortunately, I only answered that I am self-employed and quickly changed the subject about education. Even though at age fifty-two, I finally really am back in college full time (a third year student in business), I rarely talk about it. That too is a “loser's game” fueled by oneupmanship on every level. My college was better than your college. My daddy is stronger than Old habits die hard.

The truth is, I had been a writer most of my adult life. Not the best but not the worst. I was good enough to occasionally make a living at it, while taking on many odd jobs from taxi driver to bartender. I was raised in an upper class allegedly wealthy family, but I had no interest in the family business (real estate). My dad was known as a “shrewd Realtor” to the community. He was known to me as the guy who grounded me if I made waves (and I often did). I did not want to grow up to be known as a shrewd Realtor, just as “Rick”. And that is exactly what I achieved. There is not a lot of money in just “being Rick” but there is a payoff. Piece of mind. I am able to look at people and not look at them as prospects, wonder how deep their pockets are, if they are motivated to buy or sale, etc.

I became a cartoonist at age forty-two and within eight years the cartoon site, Londons Times Cartoons became one of the largest and most popular on the Internet. It remains so according to Alexa and Netcraft ratings. It was only from friends encouraging me that I opened stores to sell my cartoon products like Londons Times Superstore, but I do not identify with any of that.

In fact, just last month a friend of mine, a pharmacist and real estate investor (a shrewd one) asked me if I would help him open a web business and own half of it. It would be non-cartoon products; items like mp3's, coffee makers, cell phones, digital cameras, laptops, xboxes, etc.

So then we decided that since I have my own line of cartoon gourmet coffee baskets (really) we would cross-promote and give one away free ($50 value) with every $500 purchase, and keep our prices very low to double the value. It is working fine. BUT..

What am I? Am I a cartoonist? An E-commerce entrepreneur? A shrewd kind of Internet-type-guy? I *do* sell items at my online stores. But am I those items? Am I married to them? Do I love them? Can I change them if they don't sell? Of course. This is called "decision-making" but has nothing (much) to do with who I am. I am just a regular old person trying to make ends meet, provide a nice service or product at a reasonable cost that people can enjoy, and be who I am. I'm not what I do. I do many things. And sometimes do nothing. It depends on my mood.

I don't identify with any of these things and maybe that is why it is important that the Internet is here and with us. It changes rapidly like the world. The world always did change rapidly, we simply were not aware of it before the Internet made us a “global village”.

I identify with walking my dog as much as I identify with selling a nice home theater system or vacuum cleaner or writing a good cartoon.

I guess I was a philosopher at a very young age. I used to hear my grandmother quote philosophers and try to make us aware of adult-type subjects. She would often say, “Descartes often said 'I am, therefore I am'.”

I was more interested in Popeye than Rene' anyway. I had my own philosophy. I yam what I yam, therefore I yam.

Article Source: http://www.content.onlypunjab.com

Rick London is a cartoonist, full time student, and e-entrepreneur. He owns numerous websites such as Internet2yourdoor www.internet2yourdoor.com and Londons Times Cartoons www.londonstimes.us. He resides with his dog Thor in the Ouchata Mountains of Arkansas

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