Sales Pitches

Last night I went for dinner with a group of people for a friend's birthday. I only knew two people there, but conversation was pretty easy amongst everyone.
The moment I got there, conversations entirely skipped superficial small-talk and went straight to real getting-to-know-you discussions.
It was really nice!!

A short time through the night, I found out that the woman next to me had recently gotten engaged!!! I love love love weddings so I started asking her for details and fawning over her stunning engagement ring.
I thought to myself:

If I was more of a salesman, I should be mentioning that I provide music for weddings. I should give her my card. I should somehow mention that I sing for weddings. I should get her contact information.

There is a time and a place for sales pitches. Having just met this person, with mutual friends, the last thing I wanted to do was taint the conversation with manipulation to suggest my services.
And that is exactly what it would have done.
It would have tarnished that entire conversation from an exciting discussion all-things-wedding into a tacky sales pitch. The next thing you know she might wonder if I cared at all about all of the other little details we talked about - like the type of dress she bought and that her sisters and mum are all small-town country people who got to experience a fancy Bridal Boutique. Or that her fiancé had an entire plan for a proposal but the ring didn't show up in time (they ordered it online together) and so they just stopped for Dairy Queen and had a little picnic instead.
She may wonder if I was ever really listening. She may question my motives for speaking with her at all.

As a professional musician, should I have interjected? Should I have hijacked the topic of discussion to peddle my music skills?
Some people would say that, if I was serious about being a musician, I would have given her my card or my contact information at the very least.
But I don't want to be a tacky salesman.
I want to be more well-known for being humble and NOT mentioning it when I could have. I want to be the type of musician that isn't a peddling musician every hour of the day.
So instead of turning a great conversation into a potential business deal, I focused on all of the wedding details we gushed over, and offering tidbits of anecdotes from my own wedding planning.

In a world where everyone is selling something, I wanted to refrain.
And it felt good.

I love My Musical Life!

I just don't need to add that detail to every single person I speak with.