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About Looking on the Bright Side of Things This Thanksgiving

By
Real Estate Agent with Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker DRE #00697006

cash register drawerYou know what I'm thankful for today? I'm thankful I'm not working in retail. I'm happy to be a short sale agent in Sacramento. Out of all the sales jobs in the world, I think retail is one of the worst. It's like the roofing job of sales. I mean, look at the construction industry. You could be a carpenter, a tile setter, a brick layer, a drywaller, or you could be up on the roof in the hot sun risking life and limb. Which do you choose? Why would you ever want to be a roofer?

I had to make an emergency trip to OfficeMax last night. Yeah, I'm probably the only real estate agent who would feel the need to rush downtown Sacramento to OfficeMax on the night before Thanksgiving. But I hadn't planned on receiving my new MacBook Pro laptop yesterday. It was supposed to arrive on Monday, but FedEx showed up on my doorstep on Wednesday instead. That's when I realized that I could partition my hard drive and install Windows, except I didn't have a copy of Windows 7.

It's all the fault of Quicken. I hate Quicken. Quicken doesn't support Macs. Oh, they've got some cheesy software called Quicken Essentials for the Mac but it's virtually worthless because it doesn't download trades from Fidelity. You can't really track investments with it. It's a piece of junk. Why Quicken even bothers with Essentials is beyond me. Does it think all Mac users are idiots? I'll say it again: I hate you, Quicken. So, if I want to run Quicken to manage my financial affairs, I need to do it on a PC, which is why I have to partition my stinkin' hard drive.

So, there I was at OfficeMax, standing at the check-out counter, holding Windows 7. It's dark outside. Overhead in the lights are hanging cut-out figurines of OfficeMax workers dressed as silly elves and sporting astonished expressions on their faces. I said to the clerk, "I'm sorry you have to stare at those stupid looking elves for another 30 days." He said that's not the half of it. Office Max is making all of its employees wear stupid looking elf hats on Black Friday. Ah, retail, ya gotta love it.

I'm very thankful that I'm a Sacramento short sale agent, and I don't work at OfficeMax. I can always find the silver lining. If your mom was in a car accident, lying in a pool of blood on the freeway, I'd probably point to your car and say, "See, not a scratch; how lucky is that?" Happy turkey day, everybody!

Photo: Big Stock Photo

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Elizabeth Weintraub is co-partner of Weintraub & Wallace Team of Top Producing Realtors, an author, home buying expert at The Balance, a Land Park resident, and a veteran real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown, Carmichael and East Sacramento, as well as tract homes in Elk Grove, Natomas, Roseville and Lincoln. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put our combined 80 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at RE/MAX Gold. DRE License # 00697006.

Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Gold. Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice; it could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.

Comments(9)

Steve and Jan Bachman
RE/MAX Gateway, Reston, Herndon, Ashburn, Sterling, Fairfax - Herndon, VA
Realtors - Northern Virginia

Ha! Great post Elizabeth. Our daughter has a part time retail job in women's clothes. She is working 4 pm to midnight tomorrow.

Also, you were not alone in working last night. We showed property until 6 pm then were at the office scanning in a good offer at 9:30. For that offer and much else I am thankful. Happy Thanksgiving

Nov 25, 2010 01:32 AM
Larry O'Sullivan
Sandy, UT

Where else but sales could you have so much fun? Sub-sets of sales are a different matter.

It's like the roofing job of sales. I'll have to remember that funny for a skit for my alter ego "O'Larry the Clown"

Nov 25, 2010 01:48 AM
Mary Douglas
United Country Ponderosa Realty, Red Feather Lakes, Colorado - Red Feather Lakes, CO
REALTOR, Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

  I thought the same thing the night I was grocery shopping- along with too many other shoppers getting in my way and clogging up the aisles.  I thought, I'm glad I don't work here around Thanksgiving;  Thankful to only spend an hour in the chaos and not my whole day!  There's a bright side to everything, I'm not sure about the car accident though :-)

Happy Thanksgiving Elizabeth!

Nov 25, 2010 02:26 AM
Doug Anderson
Tucker Associates Real Estate Services - Danville, CA
Bay Area Real Estate Views

Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving Elizabeth.  On a side note I am kind of fond of Elf hats ;)

Nov 25, 2010 03:33 AM
J. Philip Faranda
Howard Hanna Rand Realty - Yorktown Heights, NY
Associate Broker / Office Manager

I was running like a crazy man until the last possible minute last night due to the short week. But I am glad to have a day completely off now- what a luxury! Happy Thanksgiving Elizabeth! 

Nov 25, 2010 03:57 AM
Cynthia Larsen
Cotati, CA
Independent Broker In Sonoma County, CA

Would you believe I had to do a cash-for-keys offer this morning? I have 2 family members in retail so we are celebrating Thanksgiving on Saturday when we can all be together. Black Friday is an American embarrassment if you ask me.

Nov 25, 2010 06:30 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

You know that I'm just kidding about the car accident, right, Mary?

Cynthia: That's shameful, the cash for keys thing on Thanksgiving. But on the other hand, maybe they're grateful for the money? It could be a life saver for them, money falling from the sky when they most need it and are without hope.

Nov 26, 2010 02:49 AM
Russell Lewis
Realty Austin, Austin Texas Real Estate - Austin, TX
Broker,CLHMS,GRI

Hi Elizabeth, I just stopped by to wish you a belated Happy Thanksgiving!  We ran the Austin Turkey Trot yeaterday and here is what we caught for dinner...Not really, I would not know where to begin as far as preparation! Heck, I am thankful I could pick up a bird from the local matket! ;-D

Russell's trotting Turkey

I hope you had a good one and...maybe even  decide to skip the whole "Black Friday" shopping madness and actually relax!

Nov 26, 2010 04:48 AM
Mary Douglas
United Country Ponderosa Realty, Red Feather Lakes, Colorado - Red Feather Lakes, CO
REALTOR, Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

of course :-)

Nov 26, 2010 06:55 AM