The Southwestern Company Internship Difference Blog
Like to count?
Let’s count the number of unethical and unlawful violations reported in a recent news article in the New Hampshire Union Leader when police in Salem took nine traveling sales crew members into custody. The article was titled, “Police arrest ‘aggressive, rude’ door-to-door salesmen.” It was published May 28, 2009.
(1) May be connected to four salesmen arrested in area last year for assault (read below for more on this)
(2) None of the nine had the required solicitor license
(3) They had not registered with the town or police department
(4) They were not carrying identification
(5) A 29-year-old from Detroit, MI had an existing warrant for providing police in another jurisdiction false information
(6) Another 20-year-old from Baltimore, MD is being held for also providing false information
(7) A 26-year-old from Norristown, PA was driving without a license
You can't count the number of unethical violations with this traveling sales crew on just one hand.
This article is not very long. Nearly all of it is about the things the magazine-selling crew was charged with (I counted seven). This illustrates the irresponsibility of traveling sales crews and the potential danger posed to not only communities, but the crew members themselves. The million dollar question - how do you police the bad guys if they refuse to obey the pre-existing laws?
Violence tends to often be a way of life on the road with traveling sales crews. The article also says the four arrests made in June of last year were in a Wendy’s parking lot where two men, a supervisor and co-worker, were beating another and refusing him food because he did not meet the sale quota for the day. This happens quite often.
This article had a count of seven things wrong with how this crew operated above. Want something else to count? Count on them moving to another state to do it all over again.
The more I learn about these traveling sales crews, the more I find myself in disbelief. I can’t believe the way they operate. I also find the horrible conditions, like the violence mentioned for not selling enough. No person should have to endure that type of abuse. I bet the verbal abuse is even more rampant.