On a recent trip to Austin, my family paid a visit to my favorite toy store on the planet – Toy Joy on 29th & Guadelupe.  While I have been making excuses to frequent Toy Joy for almost a decide, I feel totally justified shopping there now I have an actual child for whom to buy toys!

When we walked in, baby in tow, we saw a row of brightly colored blow-up…somethings – burros? ponies?  It wasn’t clear.  We were staring at them quizzically when one of Toy Joy’s incredible helpful sales staff directly asked us “Would you like to hear the story of Rody?”  Who doesn’t love a great story?  Here is what she told us.

• Rody is made in Italy (subtext: not China).
• The company that makes Rody ONLY makes the Rody – it is their specialty.
• Rody is safe for small children but can be inflated further as the child grows – safe to 400 lbs.
• They keep one of the store models a little more inflated so the adult staff can play.

By the time she got to her last point, 2 things had happened:

1. The saleswoman had mounted a blue Rody and was happily bouncing away.
2. I was whipping out my credit card convinced I would be depriving my child if he did not have one of these to play with on his first birthday.

When was the last time a salesperson told YOU a great story?  Did you buy?