If a man and woman are out on the town — they’re two-stepping, they’re having fun — one thing is all but certain: before night’s end, the rose lady will find them.
And when she does, the man better have $3 in hand. It’s a small price to pay for a husband or boyfriend or even a first date who wants to stay in the good graces of his woman.
The rose lady drives from club to club in Longview and Kilgore. On a mission, she hurries through the front door and scans the crowd for her prey. She darts among them, proffering a bouquet of deep red and other brightly hued roses. Many people say no, but plenty say yes.
She’s sold more than enough flowers to keep her in business for the past 20 years.
“Would you like to buy a rose?”
When the rose lady comes around, you might never think to ask her name. She has one, though. It’s Pam Johnson. Two decades is an eternity in the nightlife industry, and Johnson, 46, credits her longevity to the high quality and reasonable price of her roses. No gimmicks for her.
“These girls from Tyler used to come over with cellophane and teddy bears,” she said. “They think they’re so hot. Well, I have run those Tyler girls out of this town. All I have to have is roses, and that makes my customers happy.”
Johnson works for a local flower wholesaler who did not wish to be named. She earns $1 per rose, plus tips, and she sells around 500 roses a week. On a recent Wednesday night, she wore short brown hair and an oversized pink T-shirt. She cruised past one of the first bars on her route and decided not to stop.
“I think I’m gonna pass,” she said. “If you see one, two, three cars, there’s no sense stopping. Don’t waste your time. It’s still slow. The later it gets, the better it gets.”
Later she rushed through a busy pool hall but had no takers.
“That’s how fast I move when I’m not selling,” she said, back in her
’92 Crown Victoria and heading to the next place. “You have to because you have to keep moving. I’m in and out of there.” Some nights, though, she just strikes out. “I’ve gone out here and only sold one rose in a night or two roses in a night. You just go with the flow.
Just take life as it is. I’ve learned that over the years.”
Some of the interactions with customers can be downright unpleasant.
At a local bikini bar, a man who looked like he’d walked in from a golf course became irate when she stopped at his table. He cursed her and told her to leave him alone. It didn’t faze her. Johnson was happy because she sold 12 roses to more amenable customers.
“Why get mad?” she said. “I used to, but I’ve learned to deal with life and take it as it is, because eventually something good is going to happen.
“I’m sorry that guy got mad, but it’s my job to ask.”
Johnson got an early start as a saleswoman. Growing up in Knoxville, Tenn., she hawked Amway and Fuller Brush products door to door when she was 13 years old.
“My dad taught me how to sell,” she said. “I got a lot of doors slammed in my face, but I’d usually sell some products by the end.”
When she was a little older, she went to work as a carny and traveled for several years operating carnival games and rides. When she became pregnant, she moved with her future ex-husband to his hometown of Kilgore and began selling roses. She has two grown children.
Johnson’s favorite club is the Backstreet Bar & Grill in downtown Longview. It’s an older crowd, and the people are decent.
“Watch as I go up to each customer and give them a hug whether they buy a rose or not,” she said.
Inside, a man with a long beard, longer hair and a white cowboy hat was wailing karaoke. At a table for two, Glinda Lonsberry’s date bought her a single red rose.
“Roses make a woman feel very special,” said Lonsberry, of White Oak. “It’s a statement saying to her that she’s special.”
Many of the bar patrons propped their flowers in empty beer bottles. As Johnson was finishing her rounds, someone bought a rose for a woman with bright red lipstick.
“Wait!” she said. “Who bought me this?”
“Secret admirer,” Johnson replied.
The woman was astonished. The rose lady had made her night.
2,625 responses to “Selling roses to Longview’s drunks”
F*ckin? remarkable things here. I am very glad to see your post. Thanks a lot and i am looking forward to contact you. Will you kindly drop me a e-mail?
I relish, result in I found just what I was looking for. You’ve ended my four day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye
Thanks for this excellent article. Yet another thing to mention is that a lot of digital cameras arrive equipped with a new zoom lens that permits more or less of any scene to generally be included by simply ‘zooming’ in and out. Most of these changes in {focus|focusing|concentration|target|the a**** length are generally reflected inside viewfinder and on significant display screen on the back of the actual camera.
you are in point of fact a just right webmaster. The site loading velocity is amazing. It kind of feels that you are doing any unique trick. In addition, The contents are masterpiece. you’ve performed a wonderful process in this topic!
I’m impressed, I have to admit. Rarely do I encounter a blog that’s both equally educative and engaging, and without a doubt, you have hit the nail on the head. The issue is something too few people are speaking intelligently about. I’m very happy I found this during my search for something regarding this.
Good post however , I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this topic? I’d be very thankful if you could elaborate a little bit further. Kudos!
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wished to say that I’ve really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. After all I?ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!
One thing is that often one of the most common incentives for applying your credit card is a cash-back or rebate offer. Generally, you’ll have access to 1-5 back for various expenses. Depending on the credit card, you may get 1 in return on most acquisitions, and 5 in return on expenditures made going to convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores plus ‘member merchants’.
You are a very smart person!
Aw, this was a very nice post. In idea I wish to put in writing like this additionally ?taking time and precise effort to make a very good article?but what can I say?I procrastinate alot and by no means seem to get something done.
I?ll immediately grab your rss as I can not find your e-mail subscription link or e-newsletter service. Do you have any? Please let me know in order that I could subscribe. Thanks.
I think other site proprietors should take this site as an model, very clean and great user genial style and design, as well as the content. You’re an expert in this topic!
I have observed that in the world the present day, video games are the latest trend with children of all ages. Many times it may be not possible to drag your son or daughter away from the video games. If you want the very best of both worlds, there are many educational gaming activities for kids. Good post.
F*ckin? awesome things here. I am very glad to see your article. Thanks a lot and i am looking forward to contact you. Will you please drop me a mail?
Everything is very open with a precise explanation of the issues. It was definitely informative. Your site is very useful. Thanks for sharing!
This is the right site for anyone who would like to find out about this topic. You understand a whole lot its almost hard to argue with you (not that I really will need to…HaHa). You certainly put a new spin on a subject which has been written about for a long time. Excellent stuff, just wonderful.
This article is absolutely incredible! The author has done a fantastic job of delivering the information in an captivating and educational manner. I can’t thank her enough for providing such precious insights that have definitely enriched my knowledge in this subject area. Bravo to her for crafting such a masterpiece!
Thanks for the suggestions you are giving on this blog. Another thing I’d prefer to say is the fact getting hold of some copies of your credit profile in order to check out accuracy of any detail will be the first activity you have to conduct in repairing credit. You are looking to clean your credit profile from harmful details faults that mess up your credit score.
192269 256018I genuinely like your writing style, good information , thankyou for putting up : D. 836180
Thanks for this wonderful article. One other thing is that many digital cameras come equipped with a new zoom lens that allows more or less of that scene to be included simply by ‘zooming’ in and out. These kind of changes in {focus|focusing|concentration|target|the a**** length are reflected within the viewfinder and on huge display screen right on the back of the very camera.
Hey I am so delighted I found your weblog, I really found you by accident, while I was looking on Aol for something else, Regardless I am here now and would just like to say many thanks for a marvelous post and a all round enjoyable blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to read through it all at the moment but I have bookmarked it and also included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up the awesome job.
Hola! I’ve been reading your weblog for a while now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Dallas Tx! Just wanted to mention keep up the great work!
We are a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your site offered us with valuable information to work on. You’ve done a formidable job and our whole community will be grateful to you.
What i don’t realize is actually how you are not really much more well-liked than you might be now. You’re very intelligent. You realize thus considerably relating to this subject, produced me personally consider it from so many varied angles. Its like men and women aren’t fascinated unless it? one thing to accomplish with Lady gaga! Your own stuffs great. Always maintain it up!
Hey there! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with Search Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good success. If you know of any please share. Appreciate it!
whoah this blog is fantastic i love reading your articles. Keep up the good work! You know, a lot of people are looking around for this information, you could aid them greatly.
Whats up! I simply want to give a huge thumbs up for the great info you could have right here on this post. I will probably be coming back to your blog for more soon.
I have noticed that of all different types of insurance, health insurance coverage is the most marked by controversy because of the clash between the insurance policy company’s necessity to remain adrift and the buyer’s need to have insurance cover. Insurance companies’ revenue on health and fitness plans have become low, consequently some corporations struggle to make money. Thanks for the suggestions you write about through this site.
Your style is so unique compared to other folks I have read stuff from. Thank you for posting when you’ve got the opportunity, Guess I’ll just book mark this web site.
Currently it appears like WordPress is the best blogging platform out there right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
After study just a few of the weblog posts in your website now, and I really like your manner of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website list and will be checking again soon. Pls try my web site as effectively and let me know what you think.
Nice post. I learn something totally new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon everyday. It’s always interesting to read through content from other writers and use a little something from their websites.
Wow that was strange. I just wrote an really long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Regardless, just wanted to say fantastic blog!
magnificent post, very informative. I wonder why the other experts of this sector don’t notice this. You should continue your writing. I’m confident, you’ve a great readers’ base already!
This is undoubtedly one of the finest articles I’ve read on this topic! The author’s comprehensive knowledge and zeal for the subject are apparent in every paragraph. I’m so grateful for coming across this piece as it has deepened my understanding and ignited my curiosity even further. Thank you, author, for taking the time to produce such a outstanding article!
Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to your blog before but after looking at a few of the posts I realized it’s new to me. Nonetheless, I’m definitely happy I discovered it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back regularly.
You’ve made some really good points there. I checked on the web to learn more about the issue and found most people will go along with your views on this website.
Thanks for your fascinating article. Other thing is that mesothelioma is generally a result of the breathing of fibres from asbestos, which is a positivelly dangerous material. It is commonly noticed among employees in the engineering industry who definitely have long contact with asbestos. It can be caused by residing in asbestos protected buildings for years of time, Genes plays a huge role, and some persons are more vulnerable on the risk than others.
Hey just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The words in your content seem to be running off the screen in Internet explorer. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with browser compatibility but I figured I’d post to let you know. The layout look great though! Hope you get the problem resolved soon. Kudos
I like what you guys are up also. Such smart work and reporting! Keep up the superb works guys I have incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it will improve the value of my website 🙂
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own weblog and was curious what all is needed to get set up? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I’m not very web smart so I’m not 100 positive. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
954758 358095if the buffalo in my head could speak german i would not know a god damm thing. What i do know is that the language of art is out of this world. 293615
Almanya’n?n En iyi medyum olarak bir dan??man için medyum haluk hocay? seçin en iyi medyum hocalardan bir tanesidir.
Almanya’n?n En iyi medyum olarak bir dan??man için medyum haluk hocay? seçin en iyi medyum hocalardan bir tanesidir.
I do agree with all of the ideas you have presented in your post. They’re very convincing and will definitely work. Still, the posts are very short for beginners. Could you please extend them a little from next time? Thanks for the post.
Heya just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the images aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different web browsers and both show the same outcome.
Almanya’n?n En iyi medyum olarak bir dan??man için medyum haluk hocay? seçin en iyi medyum hocalardan bir tanesidir.
Almanya’n?n En iyi medyum olarak bir dan??man için medyum haluk hocay? seçin en iyi medyum hocalardan bir tanesidir.
Valuable info. Lucky me I found your web site by accident, and I am shocked why this accident did not happened earlier! I bookmarked it.
Another thing I have noticed is that for many people, a bad credit score is the result of circumstances above their control. For instance they may be actually saddled having an illness and because of this they have excessive bills going to collections. It might be due to a occupation loss or the inability to do the job. Sometimes divorce proceedings can send the funds in an opposite direction. Many thanks for sharing your thinking on this web site.