I SAID "NO, THANK YOU"

Okay, what the hell is with mall kiosk salespeople? 

One time I was at Washington Square with a friend and we happened to walk by a kiosk that was selling hair products. One of the employees of the kiosk complimented her saying "Can I see your hair? It's so long and pretty!" I continued to walk, ignoring the person but my friend happened to stop and say thank you. When I turned around, it was already too late. The person working at the kiosk had tricked my friend to stop and was persuading her to buy a hair curler. Even though I kept telling the salesperson we were busy he kept interrupting me and began to curl my friend's hair. In the end, my friend had a new hairstyle. 

And a new silver hair curler and straightener.

When we walked away from the kiosk I grabbed my friend by her shoulder and shook her furiously shouting, "ARE YOU CRAZY?!" 

She frowned and responded, "He was so persuasive..."

And aggressive. 

If you've ever been to the mall, you might've been stopped by a kiosk salesperson and you must know the feel of annoyance when they ask you questions and try to sell you products. Sometimes they're nice and leave you be when you say "no thank you". Other times they'll get touchy and forcefully make you use the product. They'll say things you want to hear (i.e. compliments) making you feel bad for being rude to them. Thus, sometimes you'll end up buying the product.

Persuasion is something salespeople have to be very good at to sell a product. I respect that. But those mall kiosk people need to honestly chill. Ever since that day when my friend ended up wasting $100+ on a curler and straightener, I can never look at a kiosk salesperson in the eye. I walk really fast and avoid eye contact.


Moral of the story: BEWARE OF MALL KIOSKS.