Or, maybe that is what the doctor whom I almost tossed off my front porch thought.
It started out as a pleasant day. Lazy Saturday…sitting around the house. I heard a knock on the front door and went to answer it. Standing on my front porch, well dressed, was a man in his late 30s. I took it in and thought, hmmm….this man is somebody, or THINKS he is somebody. The first thing he said was “You may think I am crazy for knocking on your door, but do you want to sell your house”. Immediately, I am intrigued. This man appeared to be well dressed and his demeanor spoke of money….lots of money. Even though I love my house, in the interest of historic preservation and if it would get “fixed up” quicker, I entertained the thought of selling it. I was processing the thought and heard myself reply “We can talk about it”. At that time, my husband moved out on the porch and my dogs went berserk. Not a good sign. So, I hushed my dogs and put them in their kennel and came back. The man was gone. I looked accusingly at my husband for an answer. I was wondering what he said to the man that caused him leave.
My husband chuckled at the questions in my eyes and said only four words “He’s friends with Ratcliff“. Immediately it dawned on me. This dude wanted to buy my house, hack it up into pieces, and move it to a “good” neighborhood. I became incensed and threw open the door to give him a piece of my mind and what I thought about people like him. He was gone. Darn. Poor man. He had no idea that being friends with you know who was a con as far as we are concerned. He would have done better keeping that name to himself.
My husband told him very kindly (he is the nice one) that he should not say that name so loud, that his wife (me) might overhear. He warned him about my feelings on the matter and told him that we prefer to advocate for historic neighborhoods rather than to tear out the good pieces in them which leaves empty lots and only memories. Pulling up a large house in this area would be like pulling out your front tooth. He also informed him that we advocate for neighborhood revitalization, better preservation laws, better oversight from the Housing Authority, better code enforcement, landlords paying attention to their properties, pride of ownership, etc. That what he proposed to do was not the answer.
So, I guess I am glad that I had to return inside the house. Otherwise, they might have had a write up in the paper about some crazy blonde woman chasing a man down Monroe Street with a crowbar….. 🙂 Well, maybe not that drastic. But, you get my point.
Andrea
Perpetual Renovator 
