Hey, sorry I'm late, traffic was crazy

Hoping this email finds you well

Something amazing has just happened to me. I received a $100 Amazon gift card from the company that fired me last January. Now I know what you’re thinking- get over it! Stop talking about the time you got fired! We get it! And I agree, I had every intention of putting that chapter of my life to rest. But sometimes a story presents itself and it is my duty as a writer of words to share it with all 17,000 of you, my devoted fans.

Before I begin, I’d like to apologize to you, my PillowHeads, about the tardiness of this post. I promised content on Thursdays but last night I fell asleep before I could finish this and post it. (Thank you Evan for plugging in my phone and setting my alarm.) That’s it, that’s my excuse. I’ve been trying to sleep more. I developed a bad habit my sophomore year of high school to go to bed at 1am no matter what and now with my 11ish hour workdays it’s taking a toll. I need to be one of those people that goes to bed before midnight. Join me on my quest for normalcy.

A few weeks ago I got a call from an unknown New York number. Assuming that this is always either Lorne Michaels or Guy Fieri, I always pick up. It was “Adam, from Gumbo Brothers Seafood.” I said hello and he asked me if this was Rachel from BentoBox. I said I no longer work there but I have friends who do and I could connect him with them. He said he remembered me from the last time we spoke (November 2019) and he wanted to buy a website but wanted to call me so I would get the commission. This is very interesting, Adam, because perhaps if you had wanted to give me the commission a year ago I would not have been let go. But I don’t blame you, sweet Adam, for now my career in TV production is taking off and you get partial credit.

I talked to my friend Jamie from work and what I found out is that if I referred Adam through a link on the BentoBox website, and he signed up using that link, I would get a $100 Amazon gift card. A few days ago I received the email and laughed out loud. I have become the first BentoBox sales associate to make a sale from beyond the grave. A posthumous slam dunk. Thank you to the Gumbo Brothers for getting me here.

Now before you get mad at me for supporting Amazon, also remember that that’s where I work. I technically work for Picrow Streaming which is operated under Amazon Studios but potato potato. I’m realizing that you might have just read that as potato potato sounding the same way but that’s out of my control. Maybe you can go back and read it so the potatoes sound different which would help me with the semantics of my phrase. Thanks!

So what can I buy with $100 on Amazon? The options are endless. But, I really want new nonstick pans so I think I’m going to do that. PillowHive if you have any pans that you absolutely love, please sound off in the comments. Or text me. Or call my mom’s house phone and leave a message and then she can text me. I think that would be cool because they do that a lot in “Say Anything” which is a movie I just watched. It’s the one where John Cusack holds up a boombox blasting Phil Collins to woo a brunette woman who is sad. Any film with a sad but smart and beautiful brunette love interest is a win for me for obvious reasons.

When I first called Adam from Gumbo Brothers I was told to pretend to be his friend when I called the restaurant, as a sales tactic. My manager told me that the host would be more likely to hand the phone over to the owner if they thought the person calling was a friend and not a solicitor. So, I called in and said “Hey it’s Rachel, is Adam there?” The host responded “Oh sure one sec let me grab him.”

I waited a few seconds and then heard, in a lower voice “Hey baby!”

I responded, “Hi- this is Rachel from BentoBox, is this the owner of Gumbo Bros?”

“Oh my god, fuck, I thought you were my wife I’m so sorry. My wife’s name is Rachel and Jeanette just handed me the phone and said it’s Rachel. I’m so sorry!! I guess I have to hear this sales pitch of yours now so I don’t get in trouble…”

And that’s it folks, that’s the story of how confidence and miscommunication can one day, over a year later, get you a $100 Amazon gift card. Have an amazing Friday, a beautiful weekend, and always answer calls from unknown numbers. You might end up with new cookware.