Several hours this morning were spent with organizing files from last year and preparing new ones for this year. While moving last year’s I began noticing the names and addresses on some of them. I found myself being mentally catapulted back to the times of those particular transactions. I’ve always found it to be quite the interesting happening when the faces and houses begin to appear in my mind.
There’ve been a number of illuminations for me this past year with how people can so quickly change their tune just so to benefit their posture or standing in their group. Not so many days ago I found how quickly a rather easy going person was transformed into a bitterly critical entity not long after a healthy check was delivered. I guess there are some who believe , in an of itself creates broad powers over others. There’ve been a number of them over the years that I’ve mentally branded as being of the same stripe. It’s unfortunate how small they really do appear to those who consider money as being nothing but a tool—not the be all and end all.
Not long ago I was reminded of how money can re-write the history of a person after they’re gone. There was the sweetest little old man whom nearly everyone believed to be of modest means. He’d watch the grocery store ads and go out weekly to stock up on whatever was on sale at the time. His clothes looked like hand-me-downs, and he never purchased anything more than what he felt to be absolutely necessary.
After selling homes for so many years, I’ve learned how to quickly recognize if someone was being frugal out of necessity, or out of desire. He was definitely one I believed it to be out of desire. Well, as we all know, none of us are going to get out of here alive. After he passed and his estate was opened, I heard from one of his children how suddenly her brothers and sisters started re-writing her father’s life story to the point I laughingly said, “Are you sure they were talking about your father?” “Unfortunately they were.”, she replied. All I could say was, “Don’t fret about it. This stuff happens in more families than you’d ever think—especially when there’s a great deal of money involved.” She sadly added, “Yes, and their personalities have changed to where I’m not sure if I ever really knew them.”
The sale of real estate looks like it may be kicking into high gear long before Spring arrives by seeing how much activity there is in our market. It also looks like the acreage prices are going to spike as well. A gentleman who called today on the acreage I have listed spoke about how much he’s grown to despise living in town and ready to get out in the country where he doesn’t have to look to see what he’s wearing before walking out his back door and under the scrutiny of the ever-curious eyes of his gossipy neighbors.
I think everyone should knowingly give their nosey neighbors something to really talk about in such a fashion that they’ll later find it was all a joke and meant specifically for them. I did it once, and it actually worked to their great embarrassment. It’s amazing what a wig and a pair of dark glasses can do to widen the eyes of the curious.
