Ken’s career was lit
in 1981. Lead
salesman, floppy disks.

His 8-inch lovers
made it rain. I’m talking disk
size, of course (maybe).

Big disk energy
lasted until the smaller,
harder kind arrived.

Ken couldn’t pull off
3.5-inch sales. He swung
in new direction.

He faxed resume
and made cold landline phone calls
for another job.

Blockbuster store head
manager. The weekends were
poppin’ with rentals.

He bled yellow and
blue, hustlin’ the VHS
tapes every damn day.

Until the waves of
change introduced DVDs,
streaming. Less rentals.

Obsoletion can
suck Ken’s disk. He could not be
thwarted. Next new job….

Salesman of the smart
books- encyclopedias.
Britannica brand.

Thirty-two volumes.
Over forty-four hundred
fact contributors.

Average person
takes twenty-two years to read
the full volume set.

But Ken devoured all
thirty-two books in three years,
in between sales calls.

His favorite set?
F. The football article
was the hidden gem.

But…what if there was
an encyclopedia
with only that theme?

Ken started writing
his dream book. Stored it on a
stubby USB.

It took ten years to
write. And during this time, he
was dealt a surprise.

Obsoletion of
print encyclopedias.
But no white flag here.

Ken had high hopes of
football reference book as
the new bestseller.

But for as much time
as Ken spent reading volumes
of facts, there was lack.

Of knowledge about
other books already on
the bookstores shelving.

Ken blew his entire
life savings on publishing
football reference.

The day before the
book went live, he strolled past an
used book garage sale.

On display, was a
taunt from David and Richard,
who beat him to it.

Their work so splendid,
Ken could not compete. Only
one thing Ken could do.

Salesman for something
with zero risk of going
obsolete. Doorbells.