(A smartly-dressed man approaches the door and rings the bell.) MAN: Burglar. (He rings the bell again.) MAN: Burglar. (The door opens slightly to reveal a woman's face.) WOMAN: Yes? MAN: Burglar, madam. WOMAN: What do you want? MAN: I just want to come in and steal a few things. WOMAN: Are you an encyclopedia salesman? MAN: No, madam. I'm a burglar. I burgle people. WOMAN: I think you're an encyclopedia salesman. MAN: No, I'm not. Open the door and let me in, please. WOMAN: If I let you in, you'll sell me encyclopedias. MAN: No, I won't. I just want to come in and ransack the flat. Honestly. WOMAN: Promise, no encyclopedias? MAN: None at all. WOMAN: All, right, I'd better let you in then. (She opens the door all the way for him to enter. As he does so, he begins to pocket a few valuables.) MAN: Mind you, I don't know whether you're really considered the advantages of owning a modern set of encyclopedias. You know, they can really do you wonders. (Cut to the Head of the Careers Advisory Board.) HEAD OF C.A.B.: That man was a successful encyclopedia salesman. But not all encyclopedia salesmen are successful. Here is an unsuccessful encyclopedia salesman. (A man is thrown out of a window into the street.) HEAD OF C.A.B.: Now here are two unsuccessful encyclopedia salesmen. (Two men are thrown out of a window into the street.) HEAD OF C.A.B.: I think there's a lesson for all of us.
This was the kind of thing everyone had to endure long before online shopping or even the Internet: door-to-door salesmen. Aren't you glad they're gone and best forgotten?
This piece of fan art requested some time ago by curbstomp416 is based on his favorite sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus> Hope you like it as much as he does.
