Free speech, and other trifles...

I think here in the great US of A we all mostly believe in free speech. I know I do. But there are times when free speech can get you into trouble, or worse, lose you business. How so, you might ask? Well, I find that when dealing with the public, many times the less you say the better. I am certainly not advocating that we agree with everyone's opinions. What I am saying is that perhaps we should let people have their opinions without us stepping on them.

For instance, I have a listing where the owner routinely walks around the neighborhood in camouflage and wears a knife strapped to his leg. He keeps a 22 rifle on the porch and has told me on numerous occasions that when the feds come to get him, he will take them down. He also believes that women belong in the home and why in the world would anyone waste the money to send them to college. Now, everyone sit back down and cool off, these are not my opinions, they are his.

Despite his decidedly different views from mine we get along great. When I go over to his home we sit on the porch for an hour or more just talking. I learned early on to be inquisitive, understanding, and keep my personal views to myself. Because of this, we get along great.

I had another listing where the gentleman kept reminding me that his religious group would indeed take over the US some day. He told me how wrong the US was in the way they treated his overseas brethren, and we would get ours someday. Did I particularly like this guy, truthfully, not at all. But guess what? We sold his home and he moved to Alabama. I hope the feds are watching him, but we never disagreed because I refused to be pulled into a debate that I could not win and would probably lose, the business, over.

To each their own. I will leave the debates to the folks in my life I know and love. For everyone else, you are free to exercise your constitutional right of free speech. If you see me smiling and nodding, it just may be that I am being polite and not willing to discuss how weird you are until our business relationship is over!