Posted by Beth/MD on 1/18/06 11:30am
Msg #89148

First appt. of the day. Venting

I've finished my first appt. of the day and now I have the urge to shower and change into fresh clothes before the next appt. Why? I was sitting with two of the heaviest smokers I've ever seen. The guy litterally lit a fresh cigarette with the butt of the old one. I smell horrible. My car, which has leather seats, will probably smell bad too. The smoke was so thick my eyes burned to the point of removing my contacts when I got home. There just didn't seem to be a way to say don't smoke.

Sorry if I offend any smokers here.

Reply by Beth/MD on 1/18/06 11:32am
Msg #89150

I guess I'm glad it only took 20 minutes!

Reply by jahlab on 1/18/06 11:48am
Msg #89157

I did a closing Monday night that the borrowers were both heavy smokers. Like you, I came out smelling like an ashtray. Thank goodness it was my last appt of the day. The outfit I wore was "dry clean only", so when I got home I had to hang it outside overnight to get the smell out. I used to be a smoker, but I was a considerate smoker. But the big "C" got my attention, and now it makes me completely sick.

Reply by Fran/WA on 1/18/06 11:53am
Msg #89158

I also used to smoke and was aware of who was around me. I quit over 15 yrs ago and now if I am around someone who is smoking I have an asthma attach. So far I have been lucky in the signings I have done and no one smoked around me. Hopefully in the future when I do have a signing with a smoker I can explain my situation and they will not smoke until I leave.

Reply by Anonymous on 1/18/06 11:58am
Msg #89160

You are in the people's home. It is their castle.
You have to take it as part of the conditions of this business. If you don't like it, you have options.
I have allergies and some of the after shaves, colognes, purfumes etc bother me. I don't tell the borrowers to go wash and get rid of the smell. I accept it as part of the work conditions.

Reply by CaliNotary on 1/18/06 1:31pm
Msg #89198

Exactly

We have no right to tell people how to behave in their own homes.

That you end up with the smell of cigarette smoke on you is a minor inconvenience at most. You could have a job that made you smell like sewage or raw fish at the end of the day.

My personal favorites are the houses that reek of animal urine to the point where I mostly breathe through my mouth, until the taste of animal urine starts forming in my mouth. Yummy!

Reply by Beth/MD on 1/18/06 2:12pm
Msg #89210

Re: Exactly--Cali

Okay, you win. That's definitely grosser (as my niece says) that cigarette smoke.

Reply by Beth/MD on 1/18/06 2:19pm
Msg #89213

Re: Exactly--Cali sorry that's than not that...n/m

Reply by SueW/Tn on 1/18/06 3:23pm
Msg #89241

I agree

This is the only job that I do HOWEVER if anyone came into my home and told me how to behave I would politely ask you to leave. Done it before and most certainly will do it again. Our home is our comfort zone and we don't behave differently because we have someone in that can't handle our habits. They could redraw the docs and get someone out to me that did NOT dictate to me what my actions should be. Oh, and they could pay for the redraw (if necessary).

I come here everyday and read and learn. I am truly blessed, in 100+ signings I have never had a bad experience, never had the irate borrower, never seen the messes I see described here. My clients have been just wonderful and I always walk away with a new insight. As I said, I must be blessed. Having respect for others, remembering my upbringing and the use of Sir and Ma'am, knowing that these folks are paying my bill for this work....I dunno..I can only hope that I never become so full of myself that I can stand in judgment of others. Different strokes for different folks, variety is indeed the spice of life.

Reply by CarolynCO on 1/18/06 3:11pm
Msg #89232

Yes, Beth you are lucky it only took 20 minutes. In December when we had our below zero weather stint, I had one woman that smoked 2-1/2 packs of cigs while I was at the signing. I was there for over 2 hours because she was completely uninformed about the loan or any of the docs. LO had not explained anything to her, and I refused to do LOs job.

I usually don't say anything to the BOs, whether it be smoking or animals, because it is their house. However, I smelled worse than her ash tray and my eyes were irritated, burning and watering from the smoke. Finally, I did say something along the lines that I was allergic to smoke and her solution was to open the door and windows -- we were having a high of, I believe, 4 or 6 below zero.

I had three more signings after meeting with her and because I was there for so long, I didn't have time to shower or change clothes.

Reply by Anonymous on 1/18/06 11:57am
Msg #89159

Re:I know what you mean Beth....

I had a situation last week, the nicest folks in the world to sign but the home was so dirty, I began itchy the momet I sat down(and I hated to sit down), we signed docs on a TV tray. I did think perhaps they were unable to clean due to age and health but he did have a good retirement, so hire somone to clean...yikes. I got home itching all the way, removed and placed clothes in the washer and dashed into the shower...... I'm itchy.... just thinking about it.

Reply by Regal1 on 1/18/06 4:53pm
Msg #89264

Good idea to carry a can of lysol spray for clothing & cotton balls as filters for your nose.

Reply by CarolynCO on 1/18/06 4:56pm
Msg #89265

Re: In my situation, at least ...

the Lysol would have been to spray down for the 2-1/2 pack Borrower

Reply by Loretta Reed on 1/18/06 10:38pm
Msg #89292

Re: In my situation, at least ...another good one

I did one, they both were chain smokers, (I quit years ago....my grandmother and my mother both have cancer and emphysema and on oxygen)...
They also had six dogs that were running around with some sort of rash where their hair was falling out and they were dragging their butts around on the carpet (yes, all 6 of them). It was like a small freak show going on in front of me while I was trying to close their loan and watch the dogs to make sure that they did not decide to use my leg or foot to drag their butt on. YUK!!! This lasted for only an hour.

Reply by CaliNotary on 1/20/06 12:50am
Msg #89767

"Good idea to carry a can of lysol spray for clothing & cotton balls as filters for your nose."

You're really recommending doing a signing with cotton balls sticking out of our noses? Really?

Why not just recommend sticking tampons up there so we can politely use the string to pull them out instead of having to stick our fingers in our noses to get all the cotton ball remnants out?