One of the nicest things about no longer being in Amway is that we no longer have to eyeball everyone we meet as a prospect to be recruited into the business. No more striking up phony conversations with random people in the grocerystore or mall.
What about being on vacation? You go to an all inclusive resort to relax and be pampered and instead you’re hounded by an Amway IBO.
On the other hand what IBO can afford to go on vacation? Wouldn’t they have to get permission from the upline. And then it would be a big NO. Why spend a couple of thousand on a nice family holiday in Hawaii or Disneyworld when you could be building your business and stocking up on Amway products and getting that PV up there?
We were standing in line at an Amway function, I think we were lining up for the place where dinner was being served. There was another guy in front of us and him and Ambot were bullshitting each other about their volume. Then they start talking holidays. Ambot mentions we’re thinking of touring Yellowstone Park and going to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore. That other good little ambot started to lay in on us about why were we wasting our money on vacation and it must be nice that we can afford it and all the other bullshit canned IBO speeches. How’s it any of his fucking business?
Oh wait. This is Amway. Our business is everyone’s business!
Damned cult!
Could you just see Ambot hanging out at Old Faithful where crowds gather every hour to watch the geyser? He’d have been hitting all the tourists asking them about their dreams and if they’d ever thought about owning their own business. Jesus he’d be there all day knowing he was going to catch a different crowd every hour. We’d probably get run out of the park by a ranger! Or they’d send Yogi Bear after us!
About a month before we quit Amway we stayed at a hotel and met a nice couple who lived not too far from us. Ambot was bragging to them about how The Slight Edge - on the required reading list - was about the greatest book he’d ever read. He’d bought a few copies of it and he gladly gave this couple one of his books and his phone number. Afterwards he’s all excited and telling me maybe he can sign them up in “the business”. Then he realized I wasn’t as excited about it as he was.
Perhaps that’s because I’d been reading Merchants of Deception.
By that point Ambot hadn’t been attending meetings regularly or buying Amway products. I knew it was getting close to him quitting.
But I mean how embarrassing hitting people up to sign up for Amway as an IBO or customer while you’re on vacation. Even more embarrassing when you have to watch your husband in action and knowing that’s the only reason he’s interested in meeting new people and chatting up others while on vacation.
Nobody wants to be bothered by overzealous ambots who are determined to show you the one and only way to financial freedom.
Ambot and I recently enjoyed a wonderful vacation and it was so relaxing to chat with fellow vacationers about our lives and our other travels and our interests. No ulterior motive. Simply enjoying the company of others. Meeting new people and enjoying their company and not feeling like a low life bastard trying to prospect them into Amway.
There will always be a bit of suspicion when meeting new people who are showing an interest in you and your lives and wondering if maybe just maybe they are Amway IBO’s out to get you.
That’s not how people should feel when they’re on vacation. Relax and have fun and not get bombarded with Amway IBO’s.
The feeling of freedom is wonderful.
Freedom. A chant at Amway functions.
The real freedom only comes once you escape this cult. The freedom to go on vacations and live your life as you see fit without being ridiculed by the fucking assholes in the Amway upline.
Anna, this is exactly what I remember from my days in Amway: the deep embarrassment of having to bother strangers by asking them annoying questions that would lead to showing them "the Plan."
ReplyDeleteIt was horrible. You'd have to approach someone at a party, or at a family gathering, or at a coffee shop, and strike up an unwanted conversation with him. You had to be like a whore under a lamppost, accosting every male who passed by and soliciting him. You had to be like the guy hawking hot dogs at a ball game. In short, you had to be a constant pain in the ass to other people.
It was excruciatingly unpleasant. I wanted to sit freely and talk freely with guests at a party. I wanted to relax and shoot the breeze with my relatives at a family gathering. I wanted to have a leisurely lunch at the coffee shop, not be sizing everyone up as a potential "recruit." I didn't want to draw circles on a napkin and explain a plan which (even back then) I thought was imbecilic and unworkable.
The entire culture of Amway forces you to be an obnoxious, intrusive, obsessive busybody. You have to be like those tedious Jehovah's Witnesses who ring your doorbell every Sunday morning wanting to talk to you about God.
Yes -- your are right. One of the best things about quitting Amway is that you don't have to be a nuisance to strangers.
Anonymous - yes its extremely embarrassing doing the shit your Amway cult leaders tell you to do to prospect new recruits. People don't want to be bugged by followers of twisted religious cults. And they don't want to buy shitty overpriced Amway products.
DeleteThe life of an Amway Ambot is to look at everyone as a potential recruit into the Amway cult. And bug the shit out of them!
There are many good things about quitting Amway. Getting your life and finances back under control. Not being a nuisance to strangers. Not worshipping the Great Amway God. Not trying to convince others to join the Cult of Greed.
It so embarrassing to admit to anyone that you're in Amway. Or even used to be in Amway. People either laugh at you or think you're a dumb fuck.
Anna
ReplyDeleteAlways be closing and go and do likewise
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4PE2hSqVnk
Alec Baldwin is brilliant in this classic scene as it's a must watch to understand Amway!
Nine
Hi KMB. Thanks for the link. Amway cult leaders are way more abusive than this character but the similarities are there!
DeleteI feel the same as the first commenter. So much relied now that I don't have to pretend to want to be friends with everyone. I felt like such a phony everytime I asked someone how their day was going because in my mind was a nagging thought about prospecting them. Before Amway, I was a people person and upline told me to use my people skills. But while I was doing Amway, I couldn't bring myself to sponsor anyone because I felt wrong about appearing as wanting to be friendly when instead, it was all just a way to get someone to a plan. I now feel like I can actually have genuine conversations again now. No thanks to Amway.
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous. It's a huge relief to escape Amway. On so many levels. All Amway Ambots are phonies. They pretend to be nice and fake interest in you. On the flip side because of the Amway experience I am always suspicious of anyone who wants to hug me the first time they meet me. And suspicious of those who strike up random conversations. For example I was in the grocery store and needed a flavored coffee creamer for adult popsicles I was making. A man approaches and says I shouldn't buy it and he's got something better to tell me about. Creepy! Is he in a scam MLM and has a "similar" product to flog. But no, he just wanted me to save money and gave me his recipe for making your own creamers.
Delete