Posted by Donna McDaniel on 10/22/12 7:24pm
Msg #439801

Something to think about...

I had a signing this afternoon and when I arrived at the borrowers home the wife informed me that her husband was at work and would I mind going to him at the middle school where he was working? There was a child missing and he was a detective assigned to the case. The wife and I assumed that the child had probably got on the wrong bus to go home and would turn up.

I had her sign the docs and went to the school and met up with the husband.

When I arrived there were helicopters and police everywhere.

The husband quickly signed all the docs (in my car) and he seemed quite distraught.

When I got back home, I turned on the local news and heard that they had found the child in a pond next to the school. She was deceased.

So here I sit, reminded once again that our day to day problems are insignificant in comparison.

My heart hurts for this young girl's family.

Reply by KimmyMD on 10/22/12 7:27pm
Msg #439802

You are so correct. Thanks for sharing

Reply by NVLSlady/VA on 10/22/12 7:30pm
Msg #439804

Horrible . . . and a Sign of the critical times in which we live. I'm sure your flexibility made borrowers' experience much less stressful. Hopefully, they appreciate the good that we do.

Reply by anotaryinva on 10/22/12 7:49pm
Msg #439809

So sorry, this is one of your unforgettables.

Prayers to the child's family, friends, and the teachers and school community.

Reply by MW/VA on 10/22/12 9:00pm
Msg #439817

That's a tough day. Thoughts & prayers to you &

the families touched by this tragedy.

Reply by Linda Juenger on 10/22/12 9:54pm
Msg #439827

Re: That's a tough day. Thoughts & prayers to you &

Oh my. How very sad.

Reply by 101livescan on 10/23/12 8:32am
Msg #439855

Very painful, for everyone. Just an awful outcome. Prayers and thoughts are with this child's family and community, and that poor detective. Life changing for everyone.

Reply by Barb25 on 10/23/12 9:11am
Msg #439869

I saw this on the news. This is a truly tragic story.

My heart also hurts very much for this girl's family. How life can change in seconds. I am also sure what you did was appreciated by your borrowers.

Reply by Donna McDaniel on 10/23/12 9:44am
Msg #439878

Re: I saw this on the news. This is a truly tragic story.

Honestly, Barb, I didn't know what I was walking into. I was wondering as I drove why he would want me to go to the school instead of rescheduling. I just figured they would find her on a bus or something and that would make for a happy ending.
Then I saw the detective and knew this wasn't going to be good news. His hands were shaking. He was being considerate of me because I had travelled 30 miles.
Then, to top it all off, when I arrived there was a baynews9 truck at the entrance and two people got out a did a high five.

Reply by Barb25 on 10/23/12 10:34am
Msg #439884

Re: I saw this on the news. This is a truly tragic story.

Oh my. What a terrible experience. So they had found her by the time you got there? That must have been so traumatic for you also.

Baynews9.. Huh..Just a job well done? I wonder at what point in a job you lose your sensitivity for the people that you are reporting about? I would hope never.

Hope you have a GREAT day today.

Reply by Karla/OR on 10/23/12 1:30pm
Msg #439913

OMG how did you ever keep your composure during the signing with the detective? Shows your true professionalism. I'm not sure I could have. My hope is that her death was a drowning and not at the hands of a beast.

Just said a prayer for the family

Reply by Donna McDaniel on 10/23/12 3:46pm
Msg #439942

It's looking like it was an accidental drowning.

Here is a link to the story:

http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2012/10/23/answers_sought_in_do.html

I didn't lose my composure because it wasn't about me, there were others that were uncomparably anguishing over this and as I said last night, I was insignificant. I lost my composure once I arrived home and saw the news story.

I could never ask for additional money in this circumstance. Didn't even call the TC.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 10/23/12 2:00pm
Msg #439922

Wow! Definitely something to think about - and as you indicated, a great reminder to us about maintaining perspective not only in our personal lives but with our businesses. Thank goodness WE are seldom dealing with life and death situations...

A business-related perspective is that we sometimes need to be a little flexible around the edges. In this case, you showed that by being willing to go to another location to get the husband's signature after going through the whole thing with the wife. As a matter of "principle", many of us wouldn't normally even consider doing something like that without a substantial fee adjustment, and agreed to up front. But can you imagine how much worse you would have felt if you hadn't been flexible enough to adapt to the situation? So major kudos to you for that!!

Obviously, this isn't the usual circumstance we run into when someone wants us to accommodate a request to sign a husband and wife separately, so that's not my point. It's just that things aren't always black and white, cut and dried, and absolute. There ARE gray areas and sometimes our best judgment - if we listen to our gut - tells us it's time to adjust.