Conflict Avoidance

Are you curious about real estate? Would you like to know how a deal falls apart?

Probably not. Instead, how about a little glimpse at the effects of a falling-apart deal on the buyer's agent? Said agent, being well into his 40s and going soft around the middle, should probably not have eliminated 24-hour fitness visits from his schedule this week, as the resulting malaise has only added to the frustration of putting in long hours, trying to smooth over rough edges of various personalities and, perhaps most difficult (my mother can attest to this) for me, keeping a calm, smiling countenance under the most dire of circumstances, ones that normally would call for a cutting yet incredibly perceptive remark on my part.

At the end of it, we have no deal. I sit here at work, deal-less. There will be no check forthcoming.

I saw this coming, which made my week no better. Instead, I continued to put in time, all the while waiting for the axe to drop. This morning, finally, on the last day for it to happen, it did. My client, who had been perched on the edge of ambivilance since first getting into the deal, decided she could go no further. We backed out, and another bridge in the education of a realtor was crossed.

Last night, after 2+ hours at a contractor's inspection, I returned home feeling no unlike Jack Arnold from "The Wonder Years." If I had a perky blonde wife and two sons, it would have looked like this:

Perky Wife: Welcome home! How was work?

Me: Work's work.

CUT TO: sons scattering in various directions, PW standing, confused, holding a casserole dish. Me going straight for the bottle of bourbon, loosening my tie, turning on the TV and sitting in my Archie Bunker chair.

Rough week. I hate conflict, and yet conflict was at every turn. Attend a meeting of the Bookfair Committee? conflict. Take a call from your client? conflict. Try to get your kid to brush his teeth? conflict. Go to a party for the Marketing Committee? hidden and subtle conflict.

Everywhere I look: conflict.

I declare today conflict-free Thursday. Starting right now. If anyone needs me, I'll be in a darkened room, in the fetal position.