Kids, vandalism, and Realtors

This last Sunday as I was just getting ready to watch Supercross with my kids (it's somewhat of a Sunday afternoon tradition this year), we heard some noise coming from the small construction project behind our house.  A couple of teenage boys were throwing rocks at the earth moving equipment.  Before I could step out onto the back deck to tell them to knock it off, one of the rocks found a window and shattered it.  At this point they decided to pick up their skateboards and walk away.  Becuase I hate vandalism and don't want to see anyone take an unjustified economic loss in these times I called the police, gave a quick description, location, and mentioned that I could still see the kids and the police should hurry if they want to catch them...the dispatcher said the police would come when they could get around to it...

I thought about that as the kids disappeared around a corner, my kids were seeing all this too and decided to make sure the right thing happened this time.  I hopped in the car, circled the block and saw them just as they were about to enter a local store.  I pulled the car over, got out told them they should stay right there as the police were coming.  At that point, I had my cell phone, I called the police back, told them I had the kids in front of me and they might want to respond a bit quicker...two squad cars rolled up in two minutes!

After a brief statement from me, one kid confessed, I wrote a statement, showed an officer the damage and went back home to watch the races with my son.

A hour or so later I saw what was probably some of the kids family come out with him to the construction site, take some pics and leave.

How this relates to us Realtors

What struck me about this little incident was how everyone makes mistakes in life, some pay for them now, some later in other ways, but we all do the best we can with our kids, ourselves and our businesses (which may be like kids sometimes).

I think I set a good example for my kids.  Hopefully the kids that were vandalizing property will not do it again and will think twice before getting into any trouble in the future. 

In business we make mistakes, we pay for them and we move on to the best of our ability.  I'm sure the parents or family of the kids are doing the best job they feel they can do too.  This is the important thing though, what is right for some, is not necessarily right for all.

We are all different

Some agents like commercial real estate, some residential, some specialize in vacation areas.  The list of differences goes on and on...We all do what we feel is best for us, our clients, our businesses, families, etc.  There is no perfect way or one right answer.  And at times we make mistakes and have to pay for them too.