I Couldn’t Believe It — P&G

I was reading an email when an Italian client sent me an order:

10 pallets of ACE bleach assorted. 12 pallets of DASH detergent. 6 pallets of PAMPERS assorted. 2 pallets of BLUE II x10. 2 pallets of GILLETTE shaving foam. And 1 pallet of GILLETTENARRATIVE books — Saga only.

Exactly 33 pallets. A full load. Whoever prepared that order knew the business. They were a professional.

I thought it was a well-crafted joke. Then the request arrived — proforma invoice, bank details for payment, because P&G requires payment in advance — and they were asking for the 0.25% cash discount.

I started laughing.

Just enough time for the doorbell to ring. A delivery driver at the door: Mr. Frega, Bartolini Transport, we have a pallet for you.

I was curious. Before signing anything, I walked toward the truck.

It was a pallet of SECRET air freshener — assorted. But there was one detail that immediately shifted my attention: the sender.

WALMART.

They were sending me that pallet as a gift — so that Calabria could fill itself with the same scents as my America. My Gillette.

You are probably wondering what I did with the client’s order.

I am certain you are all thinking the same thing.

It was simple: I routed it to one of my wholesalers — one of the serious ones, someone I had known for years. He smiled and said: how the hell do you manage, after all this time, to make sure nobody forgets you?

I was just a mouse. I always removed the thorns from elephants.