Are You Pretty?

Actions can speak louder than words...

Are You Pretty?

I was watching Harry's Law last night - my mother had recommended the show and after watching the first two episodes on Hulu, decided that it was ok for winding down on a Monday night.

Last night, an actress on the show suffered a brutal assault.  She was beat up quite a bit in an alley behind her store, but fortunately, her father heard and intervened.  During the course of the show, the victim began to isolate herself in her own home.

Another co-star came to visit her, and talked a little bit about her own history when confronted with "How would YOU know how I'm feeling"?  According to the script, the co-star was assaulted even worse as a young child, and she DID successfully isolate herself through the years to follow.

Actress #2 mentioned that she just wanted everything "pretty".  She played with her pretty dolls, in her pretty room, avoided all conflict, never challenged herself at all, took an easy job, liked to collect pretty things...all in a self-preservation mode of keeping "pretty".

I understand this is a fictional show, but it stayed with me through the night and when I sat down to post today I kept thinking of how experiences in life definitely color our attitudes and behaviors.

I read an interesting members only post by one of my favorite AR bloggers about putting on big-girl panties and it further fed my "pretty" mode.

I thought about how messy negotiations can sometimes get as an agent, and how vital it is we stay professional.

I laughed about newbie Richard Yates and his light-hearted arguments for free subscription to Active Rain.

I thought about my current buyer's BINSR requests and how I mentioned that other concessions perhaps weighed out what she DIDN'T receive.  My buyer has reasonable requests, but the seller also made every effort in the situation they were in to compromise.  It was handled smoothly.

As agents, some times we have to get down and dirty, and really go to bat for our clients, but we don't have to resort to amateur conduct. 

As we leave one transaction and enter the sphere of another client, we cannot bring our baggage along for the ride.

We don't always have to be pretty - but we do need to strive for professionalism.

Going back to my mother again, I remember a recommendation I heard many a time growing up,

"Pretty is, as pretty does."

Are You Pretty?