Last season, Benn & I went to the Big XII Championship between Oklahoma (who my husband is a fan of despite my degree from UT) and Missouri. As a group, we decided to be good sports and to be nice to the Missouri fans that had traveled all the way to San Antonio (plus we knew it was going to be a long, sad ride home for them… OU already beat them once this year). Before the game started, this big-hipped tart in front of us turned around with her cat ears on and started razzing us. Oh, it was on. Especially after we found out their cheerleaders were called the “Golden Girls” (so my sister in law and I yelled “Go Rue McLanahan” and “Betty White kicks @ss”). It was all in fun, until the first OU player was injured. For those of you not acquainted with football etiquette (or common sense in general), when a player is injured, the stadium silences (some people pray) and when the player gets up or is carted off, everyone cheers despite what team they’re on. They’re kids after all.
Not Missouri. During every OU injury (4 total), they began “OU Sucks” and “Go Tigers” in unison. It was the most disgustingly tacky thing I have ever witnessed at a sporting event, and that includes hockey. What does this have to do with real estate? There are several companies falling prey to the downturn. Although here locally, Austin is a vibrant real estate market, even we’ve felt the national drama (although I believe it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy…). Several offices have closed and the herd is thinning.
Should I cheer? Should I say [insert brokerage’s name here] sucks and we rock? Should I publish articles or press releases touting their failure? No. You don’t kick someone when they’re down. If another company fails, we take a moment to regather ourselves (say a prayer of thanks that WE still have a desk) and move on, *not* kick them while they’re down. It’s proper etiquette. In the blogiverse, I’ve recently seen a lot of horn tooting as agents fall off. That’s wrong, so stop it- don’t be like the Missouri football fan at the Big XII Championship.
