After my rant last time out, I’m pleased to report this week's Jiblette is a much more life-affirming anecdote!
Tis the season and all that…
After our most recent Live Auction and Valuation Day here at the home of POSH (not so much a reference to our auctions but the football club with whom we share our office), we received an enquiry from one lucky winning bidder…
The Gentleman Goerge (his name has been deliberately misspelt to protect his identity, and to annoy the editor in chief), contacted us with a view to having his new acquisition delivered.
Robin the boy wonder, being a conscientious and hands-on Managing Director, noticed that Goerge resided within spitting (delivering) distance of my home address, and asked me if I was able to do the honours.
Of course, I thought, and an honour it turned out to be!
Now as any avid reader of Jakies Jiblets will know, I’ve recently had my first child, a gorgeous baby girl and I’ll use any tenuous link possible just to talk about her. In this case to say that my life is understandably pretty chaotic and sleepless right now and so despite exchanging several pleasant emails with Goerge including him giving me directions a professional cartographer would be proud of, I was in a mess on the day in question and had forgotten entirely about my promised delivery schedule!
Luckily, knowing my own failings I had set a reminder on my phone which buzzed giving me just enough warning to jump on my sleigh, present in hand, looking like Santa after one too many egg-nogs.
The piece in question was a rather fine illustration by Belcher, another Goerge (name accidentally misspelt). It was a charming cartoon, full of character, and I transported it with due care, strapping it into the front (heated) seat and relegating my wife to the back.
Nooooo for anyone in the Me Too movement, this is a joke, my wife still sits in the back to stare lovingly at her baby girl and to try and keep the crying to a minimum! We seamlessly followed the exemplary directions and arrived just slightly tardy at Goerge’s house.
With child in car, I was anticipating a swift business transaction, and I was surprised to be greeted with such enthusiasm and I was duly invited in. I politely accepted and stepped inside and we chatted through all things auction, the local area, and other mutual interests before I was introduced to Goerge’s wife and invited for a coffee no less!
You know there are these awkward moments where you exchange pleasantries and you know deep down both of you just want the other to go away… well, this wasn’t one of those! If I hadn’t got baby and wife waiting in the wings I would have accepted, and after 10 years in the Police Force declining coffees for various, usually hygiene-related reasons that would have been rarer than the piece of art I was delivering!
The assembly ended with me leaving with more than I came with… a bottle of wine, some chocolates, and above all else, a sense of well-being, of community and of Christmas cheer!
Yes we are a business, yes we sell art, and yes we are expected to deliver the art to the paying customer, but Goerge recognised that we are still people, that we had taken the time to treat him with respect and that we recognised him as an individual and that was well and truly reciprocated. That made me smile, and I wanted to tell the world. Or at least anyone who would listen.
My wife casually mocked me for waxing lyrical about my new bromance on our way home, but the truth was she totally agreed that these moments are more valuable than any picture or any sale.
Now I’m just worried that this post is like an episode of Scrubs trying to shoehorn a serious message into a space reserved for comedy so here is a picture of us devouring the gift of the grape at our Christmas party and rest assured next week the content will be utterly meaningless drivel once again!