The Man Who Sold Hot Dogs…
I stumbled on this story last night when reading an article about not watching the daily news.
I have no idea where it originated or if it's really true but it certainly could be.
I haven't watched the national evening news in years. I'm sure Brian, Diane and Katie are very nice people but they leave the good news to the very last segment and I never remember to turn it on at that point.
More and more these days if someone says to me..."didja hear about..."...I will say "no" which they follow-up with "how could you not know about that?"
From now on I will tell them the story of the man who sold hot dogs.
Pass this onto your friends who are glued 24/7 to the news. My guess is they aren't all that happy!
THE MAN WHO SOLD HOT DOGS
There was a man who lived by the side of the road and sold hot dogs.
He was hard of hearing, so he had no radio.
He had trouble seeing so he had no newspapers.
But he sold good hot dogs.
He put up signs on the side of the highway telling how good they were.
He stood by the side of the road and cried "Buy a hot dog, mister" and people bought...and bought often.
He increased his meat and rolls orders.
He bought a bigger stove to take care of his trade.
He finally got his son to come home from college to help him out.
But then something happened. His son said: "Father, haven't you
been listening to the radio? There's a big depression coming on!
The European situation is terrible. The domestic situation is even worse!"
That made the father think: "Well, my son has been to college, he reads the
papers and he listens to the radio and he ought to know."
So the father cut down on meat and roll orders, took down his advertsing
signs and no longer bothered to stand on the side of the highway to sell his
hot dogs.
Sales fell fast almost overnight.
"You're right son," the father said to the boy. "We certainly are in the middle of a great depression.
There just isn't any business. No one even comes by anymore!"
Great story! So true!
this is so true
I remember that story from Joe Cossman’s Business Course …
Unfortunately the father let his son son hoodlink him into closing up shop.
While it is tragic, it has a hidden message … of how to succeed no matter what else is going on at the time.
I also do not listen to news. Its sad and depressing; and yes I also get the follow-up “how could you not know”, however I just Smile! The good news is seldomly spoken. Media is overwhelming. Life is too short to be depressed. Find the Sunshine in everything. Don’t stop selling your “hot dogs” because of one persons words.
like the old saying…if it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it
I don’t know if it is a true story or not, but how well it could be. I hardly ever watch the news. When I do, I find it so depressing and wish I never watched it. How nice it would be if there was a news channel that showed only good, positive news stories. I would hardly ever miss an episode. Keep up the good work Leo, I appreciate your emails and your website. Looking forward to receiving the money making opportunity that is right for me. I know it is coming soon, all I have to do is wait. Have a great day. Larry
I stopped watching the news except at the gym in the morning as I’m working out, but gradually I noticed it doesn’t hold my attention. I’d rather think about what I want to do and how to do it. Occasionally I still glance up at the tvs but then I just start thinking about what I want to get done instead. I am accomplishing a lot more these days. I figure if its that important I’ll hear about it if I need to know in some other way.
Thanks alot for such a great story Leo.
I can swear that a big portion of the news is full of lies. Please do not trust them. I tried that, I was in a country where the news said something and the people lived a different reality. News twist the facts and many people get depressed and believe it.
This was a great story about one of my favorite things. I love hotdogs. My husband and I went to the country store on Saturday where they were giving away free hotdogs all day long. You should have seen all the happy faces.
jane
Actually, this is a newer version of an old story. The original was about a man with a very profitable hamburger stand. His son had gone to college and got an MBA. When the son got back to help at the hamburger stand, he said the his father, “Don’t you know anything about business! You can’t run your business this way. There’s a depression on!” Then he watered down the catsup, got cheap hamburger meat, scimped on the portions and so forth, all to make more profit during the despression. People noticed the hamburgers weren’t very good any more and stopped coming. Eventually, the hamburgerstand went out of business. It was a story on business practices.
Leo,
My husband and I raised our 3 children without any tv at all in the home, especially tv news! Now that they are grown they all stay away from tv and thank us for not having it around. Yes, they saw it at grandma’s and at friend’s houses, but they really get it that it is mostly junk. When my daughter found herself sharing a dorm room with a news junkie, she called me at 11 pm one night and said, “mom, tell Lindsay why she shouldn’t watch the news!” and gave her roommate the phone! I explained how the visual images are so bad for you, and the depressing nature of tv news affects you, and she switched to a sports station, which is all she really wanted anyway! You are right on, and now healers of various disciplines are recommending a “newsout” when treating people for illness, no tv, paper news, or radio news during their illness (cancer, etc.).
you`re right.always I hear to news they speak about war,depression,disasters all over the world that many of them are not relevant to us,and finally in the end of year when average people are in financial problems , The Rich have become richer.I think they do not hear bad news or they make bad news for us.
This story just goes to show that our life is what we make it and shouldn’t be guided by the perceptions of others. I too make it a point to skip the news and seldom ever pick up a newspaper anymore because I can’t be bombarded by all the negativity. The media shapes the perceptions of the masses and sensationalizes all of the bad things in the world without doing the same for the good. I don’t need that in my life!
How predictable; I love the memory of a homily given to me by a shipmate in the 60’s that this story gels
Mike would you like to know how to feel better in just 7 days? aye, I replied; how?
“Do not listen to a radio, watch TV, or read a newspaper for 7 days”
How refreshing it proved to be, and no wonder; no intake of tradgeties, crime, war, or any other horrors of the world polluting my mind for the previous week. Please try it. Michael J Halloran
I just started at a new location with my gift shop (Something Special For Everyone). It is in a Market, were eveything is new items, other vendors said this was not a good time to start. Well I am determined to make it work. I have a 80 young woman helping me. In just one month our sells keep going up.
My real thoughts “If you think your NOT going to make it, YOU will not make it. BE POSITIVE” Thanks for letting me share.