Wednesday I met one of the most interesting potential buyers since I've been working at the condos. The lady was not from around here originally, but I couldn't place her accent. Maybe Russian? Wherever she was from, it seemed she'd been in this country a long time, as she had perfect command of the language, idioms and all. She was as tall as I am, well dressed and had a handshake like a man, immediately dispelling the impression that she was nothing more than a pretty face and a soft voice (both of which she also had).

She was there with her husband, who was very much a "type". Retired guy wearing a turtleneck and corderoys, an expensive watch and coat....

just this side of overbearing, using my name in that condescending way men of his type use to call their waitress: rapport with this guy was going to be almost impossible to achieve due to his impression that I was on the same order of something that was stuck to the bottom of his shoe. Oh well.

He started with the standing-over-me-question-barrage. Actually, this type of guy usually immediatly gets wrong footed at the start of this excersise, since he quickly realizes he is not able to tower over me intimidatingly - at my height he is merely leaning in to me, and since I don't take a step back or dip my head but square my shoulders and make direct eye contact, he winds up looking like he is attempting an intimate moment while raising his voice. I'd say in about 50% of the cases when I have this encounter with this "type" my behavior causes the guy to become angry enough to get verbally abusive.

But I didn't expect that from him - after all, his wife clearly didn't put up with any bullshit. He, in fact, did what the other 50% of this type do, which is step back, re-group, realize they are talking to a human being and adjust accordingly. "Does this place have any amenities? You know, pool, clubhouse, any of that?"

"No, it does not. We've put the money into square footage and security features instead."

"You know, you might want to tell Dave (the builder) that people want those things. It's a problem."

David is the name of the builder's father. He's dead. So clearly, if this guy is trying to name drop, it's not working out well.

"I'll be sure to pass along your -" I started.

But I was cut off by the laughter of the wife, "Oh, for goodness sake honey! Do you really think a guy like that CARES if you have pool? This is one little project for The Builder. This company has so much money that anything this property makes is just gravy. I expect they decided to put this up as an afterthought to the office park when housing was so hot a few years ago." She smiled and gave me a frank look, "If you could just show us around, please, and let us know what features are standard, we can decide if this might meet our needs or not."

"Of course." I said, stepping away from Captain Overbearing, "This is the kitchen...."

The thing is, that this woman was spot on in her analysis of the situation. I'm sure that there are many customers who realize this - or maybe they don't. Anyway, it's just that I've never heard anyone verbalize it before.

It was kinda refreshing. Made my day, really. Also, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if they eventually buy there. After all, the woman said she liked a number of the features we did have - and she was nothing if not honest!