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Change

I've been thinking a lot about change lately. People generally are threatened by change. It's uncomfortable. It's unknown. It's unpredictable. It requires adjustment. Humans on the whole would rather be comfortable and not have to make a lot of adjustments. It's the natural way. We joke about the only sure things in life are taxes and death, but I propose that change is one of the sure things in life. Our ability to adjust to change impacts our satisfaction with life and our success.

gray tissue box Surprisingly, the reason I began this thought about change is that I sent TLH (The Loving Husband) to the store to buy a holiday box of tissues (notice I did not say Kleenex as that is a registred trademark like REALTOR and he might have had to find something generic!). He returned empty handed. Why? Because he was looking for a rectangular box of tissues or even a square box of tissues printed with holiday colors.

oval holiday tissue box

He walked right by the end cap of oval tissue boxes not even realizing they were tissues! TLH is not a very flexible person and is terribly resistant to change. He couldn't imagine tissues in an oval container!

I'm old enough that I remember the time before tissues. I actually owned cloth hankies (handkerchiefs) and learned to iron on handkerchiefs. My father carries cloth hankies with him to this day. He has disposable tissues for guests, but in his pocket a pure white cloth handkerchief is always present.

All of us remember when . . . The list is a mile long. There were no TV's or TV's were only in black and white. Bikes had coaster brakes. Skates had keys to attach them to your regular shoes. Cars were made of real metal. Baby Ruth candy bars came in quarter pound size for $.25. Soda fountains, corner stores, playing badminton, no video games, hamburger for $.19 a pound, etc. I remember typing college papers with a manual typewriter and not a computer.

side view of large phone book We also remember when MLS books looked like this instead of being online. There were 25 listings on each page with such small print that it required a magnifying glass to read. The single black and white picture was fuzzy. Updates had to be remembered from week to week as new issues of the "book" came out. The books were not to be given to the public. They were ours. Now we have the internet with multiple beautiful color pictures to be viewed by us AND the public. Marketing has leaped to a new level.

The internet has impacted our business in ways we have yet to comprehend. The proliferation of information (good and bad alike) has created a transparency in our profession. This change is wreaking havoc in the ways we do business. We have to change to match the times. We can't just walk by the computer and pretend it isn't there. We can't leave the new methods and technologies on the shelf like my husband did the oval tissue box. We have to adapt and make changes if we're to survive.

Posted by Bonnie Erickson on 12/22/2006 12:15 AM

Comments (6)

change in real estate, transparency

6 Comments on Change

Rich... er... I mean, Bonnie... nice post! I'm one of those that believes that the only things guaranteed in life are death and change (not death & taxes as most people say). Taxes are not guaranteed since some die before they're old enough to have to pay any taxes.

Also, while death and change are guaranteed, the only constant throughout life is change. Accept it when necessary and as best as possible, and you (I don't mean you in particular) will be a happier person.

12/22/2006 07:32 AM

by South Florida Real Estate • Leanne Paynter (HomesCo.com)

Yup,

being flexible is what enables us to survive.

Now...talking about change. I just got my CRS Directory...probably weighs 5 pounds and is 4 inches thick.

I doubt that I'll even open it as I can get the same information on-line. So, I think this is my last year with a print copy. Just not worth the time and energy.

Change can be a good thing!

12/22/2006 10:23 AM

by Eileen Landau, ABR, CRS, e-PRO (Realty Executives, Pro/Team)

Merry Christmas!

12/22/2006 02:22 PM

by Teresa Boardman (Keller Williams)

Looked all over for those square Christmas tissues. Where did you find yours? I checked Target and Cub. They only had oval ones. Sigh. The message is the same.

Eileen, everytime I get a new phone book I want to throw them out in the street. They're so heavy I can't haul them around anymore and the computer is soooo much easier.

Leanne, I agree about taxes not be a definite. There are places that don't collect them and I know a couple people who don't pay them. One doesn't exist because he's a pacifist and therefore does not work, own a social security card, etc. His girlfriend supports him totally.

12/22/2006 07:10 PM

by Bonnie Erickson (The Realty Matrix)

Thoroughly enjoyable post, Bonnie! It made me think about some of the “stuff” you mentioned. Facial tissue has been around since the 1930’s (I had to look it up—like you, I had a fresh hankie each day: “…It wasn't until 1930 that the marketing focus of Kleenex changed to that of a disposable handkerchief…” Wikipedia), and television—it wasn’t until I was married that we had one, black & white, with a tiny screen and a large cabinet. (Again, I recalled hearing about TV way before then—so I looked that up too: Broadcast television has been around since 1928: “May 11, 1928. The first regular schedule of TV programming is begun by General Electric in Schenectady. Programs are transmitted Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., using 24 lines.” A U. S. Television Chronology, 1875-1970. Our 1^st TV station was KSTP Channel 5 <1948, Brainy History>, the 2^nd station was WTCN Channel 4 <1950> which changed to WCCO 4 in 1952, WTCN Channel 11 became our 3^rd broadcast TV station <1953> and changed to KARE 11 <1986 > History of KARE11, and KMSP Channel 9 became our 4^th broadcast TV station <1955, Brainy History>).

I don’t carry nasty hankies anymore!

Jay

12/23/2006 05:46 AM

by Jay Merton & Medford Ambrose, the Codgers (Retired Handymen)

Bonnie: I was, as always, up early this morning after our traditional Christmas Eve celebration—and too early for this day’s activities, and thought I’d prowl around AR a bit.

I don’t use phone books at all anymore—the print is too small—the books are too heavy & I receive multiple books from multiple sources. A month or so, ago I recycled all that I had accumulated, and resolved (hey—New Year’s Resolution!) to move any new ones received the very short distance from porch to recycle bin immediately. This will maintain the increased useable square footage of my home!

Jay (lookin’ forward to Christmas Dinner) Merton

12/25/2006 05:47 AM

by Jay Merton & Medford Ambrose, the Codgers (Retired Handymen)

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