I Get What You’re Saying

A Day In The Life...

You never know who’s going to walk through the front door when you work in a leasing office. In this case, a couple looking for a new place to call home had a slight difference of opinion on which floor plan they’d need for their growing family. I love how the leasing director helped take some of the tension out of what could have otherwise been a stressful situation.

I Get What You’re Saying

We had a couple visit our leasing office one hot summer afternoon. Their two young boys were eyeing one of our sparkling swimming pools with its stunning features. I’m not going to lie—there were days when I wanted to jump into that crisp, cold water and forget about my sometimes-stressful job as leasing director.

During our conversation, I smiled and tried to keep the conversation focused on what their needs were. The husband was doing most of the talking; but every once in a while, he would turn to his wife and speak to her in what sounded like Korean. This must have been their primary language because she would answer him back with rapid-fire responses. From time-to-time, the children would chime in as well.

A Difference of Opinion

At one point, the man leaned back in his chair and said, “We just need a two-bedroom apartment. There are only four of us and the boys can share a room.”

Well, this seemed to aggravate his wife. She began speaking to him fast and furiously in their native tongue. It was clear to me that she was not happy with what he’d just told me and she didn’t want me to know what had upset her.

At this point, I leaned back and just listened to the two of them argue. One of their sons seemed to take the father’s side, and the other took his mother’s. After a few moments of this, I held up my hand for silence.

“I think you should listen to your wife,” I said very loudly—in Korean.

The four of them stopped talking and turned to stare at me. Our assistant manager, who happened to be passing by, stopped short and did the same. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught our lead maintenance man, who’d stopped by the office to check in, shooting me a questioning look with his mouth agape.

You see, my parents were missionaries in Korea. My sisters and I grew up there, and all of us spoke Korean as our second language. I hadn’t had much of an opportunity to use this skill-set in Texas, but on this day, it had come in quite handy!

The family had been arguing about the fact that the wife’s mother was coming to live with them. The husband didn’t want to spend the extra money to lease a three-bedroom unit so the older woman could have her own room.

I’m happy to report that after all was said and done, grandma did get her own bedroom. They leased a three-bedroom, and called our community home for several years until they’d saved enough money to buy their first house.

Happy wife. Happy life!

Submitted from San Antonio

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From the book "I Have a Complex, but I'm Managing It!"  Stories from property managers compiled by Monica E. Simmons.

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