Due to the fact that our business requires us to be "mobile", there are times when we find ourselves conducting business, prepping our files for shipping, or just a place to stop for a meal, a cup of coffee, or a snack before the next appointment. There are times when I must find a public place to conduct closings when it doesn't work out to go to a borrower's home. Starbucks, Caribou Coffee, Panera Bread, McDonalds, and Subway Sandwich Shops have turned out to be some of the best places to meet in my area. I always make sure I order something when I find myself in one of these places.
Minnesota has already been hit hard this year with bad weather . . . snow, ice, and extremely cold temperatures. Tonight I was unable to get to a borrower's home for a closing due to an extremely steep and icy driveway. I was unable to get my car up the driveway, and I was certainly not going to be able to walk up it either without falling down. The borrowers agreed to meet me down the hill at the nearby Subway restaurant, but they would have to come one at a time because they had children. I was fine with that. A double closing is better than slipping on their icy driveway. I made my way to the Subway and the wife met me there and then the husband came right after her. They only lived five minutes away so all went well and I was so happy we got it done. My next borrowers said they would like to meet me at the Subway as well because they didn't want to put their dogs up and they were going to grab something to eat too. I was fine with all of that. I was looking forward to completing two closings at the Subway, prepping my packages for UPS and Fed Ex shipping, and eating my dinner all in one place. It doesn't get any better than that . . . WRONG!
So I finished up my closings, I was just getting ready to order my dinner from the young lady behind the counter (who by the way knew I was going to eat there just as soon as I got my people taken care of because I told her that when I walked in). All of a sudden this young kid comes out from a back room and asks if I am a Subway employee. I told him no and then he says to me that I am conducting illegal business there, that I am using Subway as my own personal office, that I am soliciting his customers, and that I am selling jewelry which is against Subway policy, and that I am going to have to leave immediately.
I just looked at him and I think I might have told him to leave me alone. He said that he was going to go call his manager. I told him that would probably be a good idea. I already knew I wasn't doing anything wrong because my borrowers had ordered food, I had already told the girl behind the counter when I walked in that I was going to eat as soon as I got the people taken care of so she already knew what was going on. So this creep goes to the back room and comes back out and is on the phone with his supposed manager tattling on me and after he has totally humiliated me (thank goodness my borrower's had already left and didn't have to see any of this) he comes over to my table and states that his manager has said that as long as I am not bothering anyone I can go ahead and stay and he is sorry for the confusion.
Five minutes later some man shows up and comes over to my table to see exactly what I am doing there and I laugh and ask if I have broken any Subway laws. He introduces himself as the district manager and apologizes for what has just happened. His employee thought I was soliciting their customers because he saw them eating at a table and then they were at my table . . . and he thought I was selling jewelry to them. I am not sure where this idiot got the idea I was selling jewelry. I was doing loan closings.
So I had to explain what I do for a living and that there are a lot of remote workers out there that meet clients in public places. Wedding planners, real estate agents, insurance agents, and foster care and adoption case workers just to name a few. He actually already knew of a couple of those things and added that some police officers conduct interviews there as well.
After having to carry on a ten minute conversation with this guy, I finished up my work, ordered my sandwich, and rushed out the door to make my drop with just five minutes to spare. Oh the life of a mobile closer . . . you just can't make this stuff up.
I am going to call corporate Subway tomorrow morning and let them know of my most humiliating experience and stick to the coffee shops from now on where most of the other remote workers congregate.
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