The key to Midtown

It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes realtors take a vacation. A while back I took my first vacation since beginning my real estate career. Preparing for a camping trip was a first for me. I reminded myself that as long as I have my keyring and a credit card all things are possible; after all the sandhills aren’t on Mars. Nonetheless, I targeted packing like a minimalist who’s prepared for everything.  Between freezing river-ready drinkable gazpacho and mixing my own trail mix, I attended a walk-through with clients who were purchasing a Midtown Legacy rowhome, dropped in at Keymasters to make copies of a key for a client, and then I showed a home to another client.

Once back home, and behind schedule, I checked my voice mail hoping it contained nothing that would take time away from getting packed and gone within the hour. “Ms. Phillips, this is Eric from Keymasters. You left your wallet at our store. We have it in the safe and it will be there if you want to come by and pick it up tomorrow.” No wallet! No driver’s license! No credit cards! No vacation!

Of course, I called back immediately and asked if anyone was at the key shop or could meet me there ASAP. I explained that I was leaving for vacation that night, a vacation that would be seriously hobbled without money or an ID. Eric said he’d get it taken care of. He called me right back to say that two employees were there waiting for me. Keymasters is only five minutes from my home, I made it in two. Once I had my wallet I explained to them how sincerely %&@*’ed my vacation would have been without them. I recommended Alderman’s Pub down the street and made a small contribution to their next visit.

Would a chain store meet me after hours so I could get my wallet back? It’s not impossible. With a locally owned independent shop in midtown, it’s probable. Our businesses are our neighbors and they have our backs. We need to have theirs too.