IMAGINATION 419I saw my wife make a very clever sale to our baby not long ago. The
baby was pounding the top of our mahogany library table with a spoon.
When my wife reached for the spoon, the baby refused to give it up.
Being a woman of Imagination, she then offered him a nice stick of red
candy. He dropped the spoon immediately and centered his attention on
the more desirable object.
That was Imagination! It was also salesmanship. She won her point
without using force.
There is one form of Imagination against which I would caution
you. It is the brand that prompts some people to imagine that they can
get something for nothing, or that they can force themselves ahead in
the world without observing the rights of others. There are more than
160,000 prisoners now in the penal institutions of the United States,
practically everyone of whom is in prison because they imagined they
could get something for nothing.
There is a man in the Ohio penitentiary who has served more than
thirty-five years for forgery, and the largest amount he ever got from his
misapplication of Imagination was twelve dollars.
There are a few people who direct their Imaginations in the vain
attempt to show what happens when "an immovable body comes in
contact with an irresistible force;' but these types belong in a psychi-
atric hospital.
There is also another form of misapplied Imagination: that of the
young boy or girl who knows more about life than their dad, but this
form is subject to modification with time. My own boys have taught
me much that my dad tried, in vain, to teach me when I was their age.
Time and Imagination (which is often the product of time) teach
us many things, but nothing of more importance than this: All oj us
are much alike in many ways.
If you are a salesperson and would like to know what your customer
is thinking, study yourself and imagine what you would be thinking if
you were in your customer's place.