All of us have funny or embarrasing work-related stories. One of many such occasions for me, happened some 20 years ago. I began my career as a residential appraiser in Hiawassee, Georgia, which is my hometown. Towns County was and still is a rural mountain community in Northeast Georgia where I still live and work, only now, as a real estate broker.
I was in my mid 20's at that time, a single mother of two sons, and always rushed for time. That afternoon, I had one more appointment scheduled prior to the time I needed to pick up my sons from an after-school program.
Upon arriving at the subject property and pulling into the driveway, I grabbed my notebook, camera, and tape measure, then tossed my keys on the dashboard of the car, as was my habit at the time. I watched with utter dismay as the keys skidded across the dash and disappeared down the heater vent! After numerous futile attempts to retrieve them from the crevice, I approached the front door of the client's home, explained what had happened, and apologetically asked to use the phone to call the locksmith. That was the time before we had cell phone coverage in the mountains, and only one locksmith in the County, who by the way, also drove a school bus to supplement his income.
After being informed that he couldn't be of assistance until after he completed the bus route that afternoon, I once again apologized profusely and asked to use the homeowners's phone yet again. This time to call my Dad for help. When he arrived at "the scene", I was relieved to see that he had brought with him a long metal rod with a small magnet at the end. He attempted at length, to "fish" the keys out of the heater vent, unsuccessfully. By then, it was approaching the time that I needed to pick up the boys at their school.
When we returned to the home shortly before dark, Larry the Locksmith had finally arrived, and went about the task of crafting a new ignition key. Finally, the key was ready and after saying my final goodbyes and good nights to the home owner, we were on our way to our own home-sweet-home, at long last.
The three things that I learned from this incident are: #1 never throw my keys on the dashboard, #2 always have a spare set of keys, #3 never block a client's driveway, and #4 you can always count on DAD!
I would love to hear your funny or embarrassing real estate stories!
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