Of Gin and House Plants
Last week my wife Betty and I took a trip to upstate New York. Since we were traveling in my Miata, we had to pack light, I mean really light; it has a tiny trunk. We decided to take a little Scotch and Gin along and due to our limited space, the previous night we poured said intoxicants into compact plastic water bottles.
The next morning Betty suggested we water our planters on the deck before we left. She opened our little portable cooler and said, “…this bottle is nearly empty, why don’t you get rid of it and pour it on the plants.” I dutifully obeyed her, as I am wont to do after 36 years, and the moment I completed my assigned task, I realized my, our, mistake. “Oops,” I said. ( Perhaps with the arrival of the new Simpsons movie I should have said “D’oh.”) I had watered the plants with the Gin. We both looked at each other and said, more or less simultaneously, “…what do you think will happen?” We didn’t know, but we did not think it would encourage their growth. I put a lot of extra non-alcohol enhanced water on the plants and hoped for the best.
Sure enough, a week later we arrived home to find our initially inebriated planter had now succumbed to sclerosis of the protoplasm. The Gin had destroyed our once lovely plants. It was a classic before and after moment. Our non- intoxicated planter was lovely and thriving. Our soused planter was full of dead and dying plants.
What does this have to with Real Estate you might ask? In spite of our loss, it was actually pretty funny. I mean it didn’t make us feel one bit smarter, but it was funny in a ridiculous, twisted sort of a way. And I guess this is my inane, lame tie-in. In life, all of our histories are filled with mistakes, large and small. Some we can laugh at and others that haunt us forever.
In the last several years, far too many folks did not know what was contained in their Real Estate loan contracts and woke up with far worst than a hangover. Many families and individual’s lives have been severely damaged, if not ruined, by mistakes and outright lies.
I guess the lesson of my little antidote is to always know the contents of the containers and contracts of your life to avoid pain and heartbreak later.