Don't assume anything

by Shawn Lackie

Have you ever heard the adage, “You better not assume something because it could make an ass out of U and me?” Or the old saying, “Never judge a book by its cover?” Both are excellent pieces of advice. Assuming something could be more hazardous than you think.

In his amazing book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell tells the story of a car salesman in the Midwestern United States who, at one point, was the most successful salesman for his brand of automobile. The reason why? He treated everyone who walked into his showroom with the same amount of respect. Regardless of age, creed, sex, colour or how they dressed. He understood that you just never know. He was absolutely right.

It brings to mind the often-told story of Ronnie Hawkins walking into an exclusive Rolls-Royce car dealership on Bay Street in Toronto in the ‘60s. He had on his usual garb. Blue Jeans, cowboy boots and an old jacket. The salesman thought (wrongly) that he wasn’t a legitimate customer and tried to brush him off. Long story short, Ronnie left the dealership and went to his bank, where he took out a sizable amount of cash, put it in an Honest Ed’s bag and headed back to the dealership. He approached the manager and asked how much the salesman’s commission would be. When he was told it would be $1,500, he took all the cash out of the bag and handed over $1,500, except for the $1,500, which he said he would just keep, thanks. Needless to say, the salesman learned a valuable lesson that day.

I have had similar encounters but since I didn’t pre-judge, I didn’t get myself in hot water. I was doing an open house in Caesarea many years ago and a beat-up van pulled up out front. Two older gents got out and my first thought was yikes. But I didn’t say anything or treat them with any less respect. He bought the house, almost on the spot AND he had a house to sell in Oakville, which I ended up listing and selling. This all happened in August which was typically a slow month back then. You just never know.

When I was at the CFL, we held a launch event in 2001 for the then-Ottawa Renegades. One of the owners was a very young looking dot com millionaire. I mean, he looked like everyone’s 14-year-old baby brother. He and his buddies were tossing a football around on the turf when one of the security guards started to hassle them. I happened to overhear what was going on and quickly got in the guard's face. I explained that if he wanted to keep his job, he might just leave these guys alone. Because one of them was the team's principal owner. He very quickly exited stage left. It was actually pretty funny, but it could have easily turned sour. All of this just leads to one conclusion. Treat others the way you expect to be treated. With dignity and respect. You’ll be glad you did. I know I was.

Feel free to check out this story and more on my blog site at: https://slackie14.wixsite.com/buy-sell-and-more.