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.
4,420 responses to “Selling roses to Longview’s drunks”
Your style is so unique in comparison to other people I’ve read stuff from. I appreciate you for posting when you’ve got the opportunity, Guess I’ll just bookmark this blog.
In the United States, at the tip of 2019, property in stock funds (of all types) were $15.0 trillion, representing 58 of the industry.
I have realized that of all kinds of insurance, medical care insurance is the most dubious because of the discord between the insurance policies company’s necessity to remain adrift and the client’s need to have insurance plan. Insurance companies’ commissions on health and fitness plans are incredibly low, therefore some corporations struggle to earn profits. Thanks for the strategies you share through this website.
Its annual options include a ranking of the highest 50 European hedge fund managers referred to as The Europe 50, The 50 Main Girls In Hedge Funds, and Tomorrow’s Titans.
I can’t express how much I admire the effort the author has put into writing this outstanding piece of content. The clarity of the writing, the depth of analysis, and the plethora of information offered are simply impressive. Her zeal for the subject is obvious, and it has certainly resonated with me. Thank you, author, for sharing your wisdom and enhancing our lives with this extraordinary article!
After checking out a few of the blog posts on your site, I truly like your technique of blogging. I book-marked it to my bookmark site list and will be checking back in the near future. Please check out my web site too and let me know what you think.
Milwaukee County has more than 240,000 African Individuals, which is about 70 p.c of the state’s whole African American inhabitants, in line with the 2010 census.
You can normally sweep up cheap brooms on the grocery or even dollar retailer.
Aw, this was an exceptionally good post. Finding the time and actual effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate a whole lot and never manage to get anything done.
This is the perfect web site for everyone who hopes to find out about this topic. You know a whole lot its almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually will need to…HaHa). You certainly put a new spin on a topic that has been written about for decades. Great stuff, just great.
I seriously love your website.. Very nice colors & theme. Did you create this amazing site yourself? Please reply back as I’m wanting to create my very own blog and want to find out where you got this from or exactly what the theme is called. Cheers!
He then theorized that it was doable to use solely 4 colors to coloration any map.
What’s the title of Turk and J.D.’s first pet, a kind-of dog?
Actually, some individuals residing in log houses at the time sheathed their outdated log partitions in clapboard and paneling.
The park additionally relaunched its website, branding the park as Alabama Adventure Water and Theme Park.
Among the other issues to do are to go to see the elephants on a trekking tour, go island hopping and enjoy the sheer beauty of the many islets that scatter the country’s coast.
In case you are passionate about business food production, restaurant operations, dining room practices, cooking and baking, cuisine and culture, a program in hospitality could also be the appropriate alternative for you.
To be a “jack of all trades” is to be expert in many areas.
Nor was Dodge the least bit bashful in promoting its new cars.
So, like a leaning bicycle wheel, the boomerang is constantly turning to the left or right, in order that it travels in a circle and comes back to its starting point.
I apologize and invite my companion alongside to help.
Pretty! This has been a really wonderful post. Many thanks for providing this information.
In order to trade successfully, investors must be able to establish the relationship between the expected future price and the current price of a commodity.
Thank you for sharing indeed great looking !
Thank you for sharing indeed great looking !
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful post with us.
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful post with us.
I like it whenever people get together and share ideas. Great site, keep it up.
Watch our exclusive Neerfit sexy bf video on neerfit.co.in.
I was very pleased to seek out this web-site.I wished to thanks to your time for this glorious learn!! I definitely having fun with every little little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you weblog post.
The station diagrams have been no longer a part of the undertaking, whereas the four different concepts (the Vignelli map, area bus map, geographically correct subway map, and flat station diagram) stay.
Many animals have patterned coats, which make it more durable for predators to identify them.
For years the army was doing something called the “Stargate Venture.” What was it about?
I might need a number of leftover Christmas cards.
As you select a house inspector, take into account that talent and expertise may differ, and not all candidates have your greatest interests at heart.
Fashionable ones embody – “Comino & Blue Lagoon Sunset Cruise”, “A traditional Two Harbors Cruise by Night”, and the “Round Malta Cruise With Food and Open Bar”.
The mural of Coorg flaunts of its gentle slopes, paddy plains and rosewood forests, which makes it the Scotland of India.
He then moved to his father’s residence in Eaton County.
hubet
How lengthy do you think it is best to wait before the individual you love will get to have a toothbrush at your home permanently?
The Winchester Thriller House in San Jose, California, is one of the spookiest homes within the United States.
The last issues to go on should be one last piece of cardboard, then the opposite board.
Nice i really enjoyed reading your blogs. Keep on posting. Thanks
Greetings! Very helpful advice within this article! It’s the little changes that produce the most important changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!
Nice i really enjoyed reading your blogs. Keep on posting. Thanks
Good post. I learn something new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon on a daily basis. It will always be helpful to read content from other writers and use a little something from other websites.
You ought to take part in a contest for one of the finest blogs online. I’m going to recommend this blog!
These camps generally run week-long periods, and some campers may attend more than one session although the curriculum repeats each week.
Then again, the phrase “motel” is comparatively new, being coined in the 1920s with the unfold of cars and a rising trend of family street journeys.
I’m in awe of the author’s talent to make complicated concepts approachable to readers of all backgrounds. This article is a testament to her expertise and passion to providing valuable insights. Thank you, author, for creating such an captivating and insightful piece. It has been an absolute pleasure to read!