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balance is everything...
your a good man, (of course, you already know that) but in case any of these hoodlums start giving you a hard time.. u let me know
hehehe
posted by
PoeticHoneyDew
on June 24, 2005 at 9:25 PM
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Gome, you have such a way with words.
I couldn't help but laugh at your comment. I'm sorry you've been chased and hounded by such chuckleheaded numbnuts -- or whatever your term was. I'm sure I've been one of them a time or two, albeit with the best of intentions. No matter what a person's beliefs, we should all show the utmost respect to our fellow humans.
posted by
JanesOpinion
on June 23, 2005 at 7:07 PM
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JanesOpinion -- in your comment you have inadvertantly hit on something
When you say: "You do seem to have a knack for finding people who call themselves Christians and yet manage to defame Christianity." .....this is not an unfair statement but it is a matter of perspective. For most of my life it was necessary to keep my agnosticism under wraps. Career advancement, social harmony and my well being in general terms made it prudent to just nod my head in agreement with everything the majority of people believe. One day I had finally had enough. Enough of people telling me how to live and definately enough of people imposing their religious viewpoints on me. It is not a coincidence that this time came in conjunction with financial security. Once I was at a stage in life where my career path could not be affected by the opinion of others it was easier to speak up when someone was intent on imposing their religious viewpoint. Do you know what still happens to this day in this part of the world when it becomes known that a person does not buy into Christianity? Every quarterwitted, chuckleheaded numbnut that has ever flipped open a bible decides that they somehow have a right to attempt to "correct" my beliefs. So as I mentioned, the portion of your comment where you say "........seem to have a knack......." is not an unfair statement except from my perspective it's theother way around.... they seem to find me.
posted by
gomedome
on June 22, 2005 at 7:59 PM
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Let your conscience be your guide!
It seems to me that you were rather gracious, considering how she and her husband initially tried to either scam you, lay a guilt trip on you or, at the very least, proclaim their rotten business acumen.
I must say though that I thought, with the story you were telling and your known antipathy towards Christians, you were going to end it by stating that she invited you to church afterwards, or tried to gain your pity with some "God-talk." You do seem to have a knack for finding people who call themselves Christians and yet manage to defame Christianity. Glad this couple, with all of their faults, didn't fall into that category.
posted by
JanesOpinion
on June 22, 2005 at 7:08 PM
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PoeticHoneyDew -- I hear ya -- it's amazing how much trouble we can get
into by doing favours for people. Where this case is a bit different is in that I did this for a living and as such would be considered a professional at this type of evaluation and assessment. These people got a freebie, ignored it and paid dearly for not listening, much like your estranged friend. I did justify my not disclosing the value of the item I sold on eBay but do you think a sap like myself could leave well enough alone? I sold some of the lady's stuff this morning and made her a few bucks she wasn't expecting.......now we are definately even.
posted by
gomedome
on June 22, 2005 at 2:07 PM
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The way I see it, the woman owed you money, and you got it.
I honestly believe that one of the worst things a person can do is ask for a favor, receive the favor, and then bitch at the person giving the favor for not doing a good enough job.
Not that this was the same kind of deal, but I was nice enough a while back to fix a friend's computer. This friend was exceptionally cheap and had a REALLY crappy computer. I did what I could before I noticed their harddrive was humming its way to a slow yet sure death. I BUILT them a computer for free out of spare parts around the house. Installed the operating system, installed at least 20 different programs and set up their cable modem... FOR FREE.
I told them what to and not to do with the computer.. they ignored me. They got the computer infected with everything under the sun within a month--- and when their computer starting acting up... they bitched at me for it! They never even ran the Spyware remover I installed for them!
I guess I'm just too nice though, because I never got back at them the way you did with that woman, but I can surely say I'm not as buddy-buddy with these people as I used to be.
posted by
PoeticHoneyDew
on June 22, 2005 at 1:33 PM
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avant-garde - thank you, coincidentially I just returned to my office
from doing more work on this deal. The widow received a paltry $20,000.00 for her goods after nearly 2 years of holding out for some imaginary figure. The problem with this sale is that in the end she receives nothing. The equity in the building was gobbled up by housing the goods for so long as the building's expenses marched on, the money she just received will be claimed by creditors. But appreciate that I saw all of this coming and even though they ignored my advice originally I structured things in the end so that she would at least get something.
I had my client buy only what he needed for his business but listed everything in the deal as one lot and had it shipped together to his warehouse. The surplus goods are now out of the possesion of creditors and no longer officially exist. This morning I sold 2 items for $ 3,000.00 cash, funds which can now be "back doored" to the widow. All of this for a woman that inexplicably hates my guts. She may receive as much as $8 or $9 thousand from the remaining goods but a sad figure in comparison to what she could have gotten.
posted by
gomedome
on June 22, 2005 at 11:39 AM
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i'm impressed
at your business acumen and the ability to retain your ethics. you didn't allow yourself to be manipulated with pity, and your self-respect allowed you not to flaw your conscience. how we feel after things are said and done speak volumes, save, of course, for the many sociopaths who claim they don't care.
posted by
avant-garde
on June 22, 2005 at 10:51 AM
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Thanx cantey_1975 -- I was going to let it all slide
until she beat me out of my commission with full knowledge of what she was doing.
posted by
gomedome
on June 21, 2005 at 11:49 AM
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jesse_jean -- your assessment is too cut and dried
The widow had just finished eliminating my commission and had wasted 200 hours of my time as a conservative estimate. Further they felt compelled to attempt to tarnish my reputation simply for being the person who gave them the bad news. My consultant hours are chargeable, slander is actionable. Who ultimately got screwed here?
posted by
gomedome
on June 21, 2005 at 10:22 AM
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it is appaling
yes, you should feel guilty. you saw a chance to screw someone and you did, it is not how others treat you --- it is how you treat others--- believer or not doesn't play a part-- being human does
posted by
jesse_jean
on June 21, 2005 at 10:08 AM
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wow. What a story
congrats on not letting that lady play you with that pity stuff. Not that you would. How embarrasing and wrong she was to do that. Manipulative.
Compassion is a very specific thing. God is just and you are only guilty in His sight if your heart condems you. Do you see what I mean?
posted by
calmcantey75
on June 21, 2005 at 9:33 AM
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