Tom, the tie salesman was an annual visitor to our store. The problem: his selections were all polyester fabrics. All our ties were made of natural fabrics: cotton, silk, wool. So we never bought anything from Tom. One day, when he appeared, I said, ‘Tom, you know we don’t carry polyester ties. When are you going to stop coming to see us?”His answer: “It depends on which one of us dies first.”