Today’s posts have made me quite introspective…
I have had a few health issues (nothing big, I’m fine now) that have slowed my efforts and posting. After viewing Greg’s great post this morning, I visited a place I had never gone before (seriously…for some reason, I had never read the ABOUT US page!!). If you haven’t, then now is the perfect time to check this out. With each post from now on, I intend to write in my posts the takes that you would NEVER read in the REALTOR magazine, but wish were there–and beyond.
Pithy, yes, Greg…more importantly –spot on.
Like Doug’s post in which he used the Circular Firing Squad analogy, I totally think that playing the blame game with the Housing issues we faces is a waste of time. You would not get a magazine that is bent on protecting NAR individually (different IMO from agents collectively) to say publicly that when it comes to the blame game…it doesn’t matter. We are where we are and the people affected are PEOPLE. They have FAMILIES. They have DREAMS. And Greg, as you so eloquently pointed out, they have kids…I’d add that they have kids who think an ARM is actually an appendage to the body and who want to stay kids as long as possible. We sell the American dream and it only makes sense to me that it hurts us and we FEEL it when those we have sold the dream to wake up with a nightmare…even if it is partially their fault.
One of my favorite balladeers is Gordon Lightfoot. And while the “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” seems applicable at times as we watch this stuff unfold, I think the excerpts below from “The House You Live In” apply more correctly. (emphasis added)
The House You Live In
When you’re out on the road and feelin’ quite lost
Consider the burden of fame
And he who is wise will not criticize
When other men fail at the game
Beware of strange faces and dark dingy places
Be careful while bending the law
And the house you live in will never fall down
If you pity the stranger who stands at your door
When you’re down in the dumps and not ready to deal
Decide what it is that you need
Is it money or love, is it learnin’ to live
Or is it the mouth you must feed
Be known as a man who will always be candid
On questions that do not relate
And the house you live in will never fall down
If you pity the stranger who stands at your gate
So, for today, I am content to leave the whodunnit stuff alone. There is plenty to go around. My concern and my thoughts are with all those affected…from the janitor at the mortgage company who may have lost his job through no fault of his own…to the child who has to hear the empty promises of a future bicycle upgrade that will never come and who may grow up before their time.
I think it truly is possible as well to show compassion on those who suffer regardless of whether it was their own decisions that triggered the misfortune or not. It does not weaken us as REALTORS and mortgage industry members to shed a tear or two on their behalf…it makes us stronger, and we are better for the experience.
Tara Jacobsen says:
Nicely said Eric. You cannot have a heart and go into those houses and not feel SOMETHING. Whether the people went “gentle into the good night” or whether they went kicking and screaming and breaking down doors, they went. For the rest of their lives they will remember that final leaving their home and all the promise that it had offered for a time.
March 13, 2008 — 3:21 am
Wayne Long says:
I am with you Eric! It is far too easy to just say they did it to themselves or whatever. To an extent this is true but we all have our short comings and do things to ourselves. It does not hurt to show some compassion and help someone figure out a solution if possible.
Well said!
March 13, 2008 — 5:52 am
Teri Lussier says:
Beautifully said, Eric.
March 13, 2008 — 10:41 am