I recently had a visitor to my home who claimed she was from Estonia and had questions about our educational system. As a doctoral student in education and professor at Bradley, I let her into my home so I might be able to share with her the U.S. perspectives.
To my shock, instead, this young woman used high-pressure sales tactics to try to pressure me into purchasing educational books and CDs for my children. She repeatedly used names from the Morton community of people who she claimed had purchased items from her, and she repeatedly used her host family’s name in an effort to gain my trust.
She could not answer any of my questions about how effective the products are or how much children learn. Instead, she pulled out hand-written notecards claiming the books and CDs were fantastic.
The item she wanted to sell me would have cost me $133. I found the same item online regularly priced at $49 at multiple sites.
For those whose door she comes knocking, beware. She will return to Estonia soon, with your money in her hand, for an overpriced item that has not been proven to be effective in teaching young people.
High-pressure sales tactics should be exposed in our community as quickly as possible. Our neighbors and our community do not need this. Our neighbors in Morton have extreme goodwill. Individuals who only have their immediate economic gains on their minds and take advantage of our neighbor’s goodwill should be sent packing.
Monica McGill
Resident
Morton
