Southern Hospitality

there is no typical fireworks customer

We have met many people in our three days of fireworks sales so far. People from all social classes, races, ethnicities and various levels of what I call "cajun-ness". So far, they have all been cordial and polite, besides a jerk that pulled up in a Hummer and bought $30 worth of fireworks and acted like a pompous ass, haha. Overall we've seen several different types of customers.

The "grab and dash" customers. These people might not buy the big ticket items, but they rush into the tent like a whirlwind, grab two or three baskets and fill them full of snappers, snakes, roman candles, cones and small cakes. Besides the time it takes to ring up their orders, we love these people. They have all been really fun, friendly families and most of them end up spending quite a bit because they will come back and fill up baskets several times.

The "big ticket" customers. It doesn't matter what type of vehicle they arrive in, if they walk straight over to the large artillery shell packs or the 500 gram cakes, we know they want the big boom and they are willing to pay a big price. We LOVE these customers as well. Usually, to sweeten the deal and get them to come buy more, we throw in a few free items for them. So far it has worked.

There are more types, but these are the two most prominent ones.

Besides our customers, I have been introduced to Nick, a boy that has helped Jared for the 5 years he has operated a tent in Jackson. Nick is not unlike the young men we see in Kansas, except for the thick Louisiana accent. He pretty much dresses head to toe in Camo, has long stringy hair underneath his hat (I swear there is a mullet under there but Jared disagrees) and he talks about hunting, catching gators with his bare hands and his brother's new wife that he can't stand. You just have to laugh at his far-fetched stories, but he is an all-around nice guy who has definately shown us what "southern hospitality" is all about. On Christmas, he brought us a home-cooked meal including turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, stuffing, rolls and pie. It was awesome! Today he brought us some soup with deer sausage (i've never had deer sausage, but I am sure it is good). And, later this week he said he is going to bring us chili. YUM.

So, while it is a wet, rainy day with little sales, Nick brightens our day with home-cooked Louisiana food and a few stories about catching gators. What else do we need?