Paid to Party: Working Time and Emotion in Direct Home Sales

5 Let the Games Begin: The Importance of Playing Along

107 Let the Games Begin the importance of playing along c h a p t e r 5  I wonder who came here from afar, Give yourself 5 if you came by car. Were you on time? Not one minute late? Punctuality pays so give yourself 8. A watch is 6 and each ring is 2, 10 more points if your eyes are not blue. Score yourself 5 if you show any pink, But take away 10 if you left dishes in the sink. . . . 1 point for each year that you have been wed, But take away 5 if you have on red. Now sons are neat, on that we agree So for each one you have you now may add 3. But when adding up points, girls are worth more So for each one that you have go ahead and add 4. If you kissed your husband or boyfriend today, add 12 But into your personal life we must delve. . . . If you kissed them both you must subtract 20 Because you’re in trouble and trouble aplenty! Now that’s all there is so total your score Except if you’re a special friend, there’s one more. It’s 50 points bonus for a V.I.P. If you’ll be a hostess for a [name of company] Party for me!1 In Chapters 2 and 3, we described the process of emoting time in DHS, specifically how fostering certain temporal and emotional experiences draws women into the industry. Although joining a company may afford many benefits for consultants— namely, a new experience of work—the industry also highlights the perks afforded to hostesses and customers in the context of the business’ primary venue: the home sales party. Some of the rewards that party attendees receive are material in nature, such as free and reduced products, but, as we illustrated in Chapter 4, the larger proffered benefits of attending a party are social in nature. Even in instances where obligation serves as the driving force for getting guests to attend and later make a purchase, women expect a good time with their friends once they are at a party. As we have seen, parties carry their own set of behavioral and emotional expectations, ones that differ from the marketplace. Because the encounter is defined as a party, the norms of U.S. middle-class social etiquette, such as an emphasis on friendliness and comfort, prevail. Behaviors such as hosting, eating, complimenting, honoring, introducing, exchanging gifts and secrets, and playing together—all present during the home party—signal inclusion and generate feelings of solidarity (Lamont 1992). The party should feel like a respite from the hectic pace of daily life, an opportunity for friends to slow down and enjoy one another’s company. This promise of a good time introduces important responsibilities and challenges to the consultant. Lest women get sucked into the allure of constant partying , it is important to recognize that this form of fun work differs in a fundamental way from other attempts to make work fun. Specifically, consultants are not simply charged with having fun while working; they must take on the role of the fun makers, orchestrating a good time not only for themselves but also for everyone in attendance at the party. In Build It Big, a collection of essays written by experienced workers in the field, one writer warns that disastrous outcomes will follow if, due to the failings of a consultant, fun falls by the wayside at the home party: “All of us have probably attended parties where we have been bored to tears. The well-intentioned consultant went on and on and on about the company, product, and opportunity; forgot that she was leading a party; and failed to involve the guests in fun activities. Are you leaving your ‘fun side’ at home? Do you believe you have to be serious to be professional? Nothing could be further from the truth!” (Phelps 2005, 66). Notice that it is not just the party that must be fun, however; fun must also be a quality of the consultant. The same author advises women to “invite a special guest (friend or spouse) to attend a party to see your product presentation and then let you know if you’ve been a stuffed shirt” (68). Avoiding being a stuffed shirt, wet rag, stick in the mud—whatever metaphor you like—pays off; as she testifies, “I actually have...