I enjoy meeting people and showing properties in Arizona retirement communities. I hear the cutest stories and learn of peoples lifestyles. Today I was showing properties to a couple who are moving to Sun City West from Bellevue Washington. As we traveled from one home to another they told me a story that’s still on my mind tonight.
It was 1958 and my client was newly employed and newly married. He and his new bride had a large wedding that yielded a little more than $1,000 in gift money. His pockets were burning to spend the money on his bride.
About the same time a door-to-door salesperson stopped by their little apartment. The salesperson was selling stock in a new company. In those days door-to-door sales people was common, ie the “Fuller Brush-man”.
The stock cost 45 cents a share; the salesperson spent almost three hours at my clients little abode trying to convince them to buy the stock. My clients decided to sleep on the decision, making the final assessment the next day. The next morning, my client decided to buy his wife a bedroom furniture set made of maple and sure to last them a long time. She was thrilled.
Their decision was predicated on the fact that he did not think that transistor radios would become popular. His oriental bride was from Tokyo and she had never heard of the company. They both felt that the stock purchase would be too much of a gamble. They still have the bedroom furniture set today, it reminds them of their decision not to purchase Sony stock.
Sometimes we need to take a small gamble in life. My clients said that they’ve always wondered how their lives would have changed if they purchased only $500 in shares and saved the rest. Today I showed them properties in Sun City West, only properties that would only accommodate their bedroom furniture. My clients laughed about their Sony stock experience.
Living and working in retirement communities provide me with a vast array of life experiences. Life is good.
Comments(6)