I THINK IT STARTED WITH DONALD TRUMP'S "THE ART OF THE DEAL"

I blame it on Donald Trump and his personal how-to books.  Actually not him, but the public's interpretation of his how-to books. 

And I do because it seemed to have started about six months after The Art of the Deal hit the bookstores and was a run-away success.

While most Gentiles probably intuitively knew it, most didn't know that proper business dealings followed a Jewish mitzvah which paraphrased means, "Make certain there is something on the table for everyone."

The idea is that even if you have the upper hand in a negotiation, it is your moral obligation to make sure that the terms are fair and fair to all concerned.  When you don't, to Jews it is similar to having broken one of the Ten Commandments. 

I think I must have been about fifty when The Art of the Deal made amateur negotiators into pseudo-Donald Trumps.  I remember how appalled I was that one of my clients of many years started unfairly beating up --- making impossible demands --- on a poor fellow who was trying to sell his property to him for a fair price.

I stopped the meeting, and asked my client if I could speak with him in the hall.  When we went out of earshot of the others, I all but yelled at him, "What in God's name are you doing?"  He told me that he was doing what he had learned Donald Trump did.

Well, I told him, "That's not real, and even if it is, you're too honorable of a man to take those ideas into your bag of tricks."  Then I said, "There is a Jewish mitzvah  that says 'Make certain there is something on the table for everyone.'  We're going to continue doing our business together that way, or you need a new Realtor."  He knew I meant it, and we'd had too many successful dealings together for him to let me go on my way.

Then I learned he wasn't an anomaly.  Lots of people began thinking they were Donald Trump.  Even those guys on TV who push the books that tell you how to buy million dollar mansions with a buck and no risk to your credit.

Saturday, I presented a clean and full-price contract to a listing agent.  In the old days, the seller would have signed his name and been thrilled.  Not this time.  The contract was sent back to me countered with about twelve ridiculous Donald Trump Demands.  And, in reality, they didn't mean a darned thing to the seller except he didn't want my client to have them.

So what is my point?  It is that real estate agents and attorneys have a professional obligation to all parties.  They must do their very best to restrain their clients from being Donald Trump The Art of the Deal interpreters.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

1-800 314-7110

OUR 43RD YEAR SELLING TEXAS

Recently I’ve had three interesting experiences with the Office Max store in Dallas that is near the intersection of Park and US 75.

Let me set this up for you.  I have an HP printer for my computer that uses small ink cartridges.  In fact, so small that I buy at least one black cartridge a week, and one color cartridge every two weeks.  Both Office Max and Office Depot give you a $3 discount when you return the empty ink cartridge.

Last week, I bought a new black cartridge, installed it, and it had no ink in it.  I took it back.  The clerk, who appeared to be some sort of manager, insisted that I had brought back a cartridge I had already used, so he refused to replace it.  (I'm 68-years old, and was dressed in a coat and tie...hardly the age and look of someone on a binge to steal 15 bucks from an office supply store.)

He suggested that I let him refill the empty cartridge from some gizmo the store has so I could at least save a couple of bucks.  I was trying my best not to get into an argument.  So, OK, I let him refill it.  That cartridge spattered ink all over everything when I tried to print with it.  I took it back for a replacement.  Same guy told me it couldn’t possibly be the refilled cartridge, it had to be a malfunctioning printer.

I left and went to Office Depot, bought a new HP cartridge, installed it and it worked fine.  I swore I wouldn't go back to Office Max again, I'd watch how their corporate stock traded instead.

Today I was in a big hurry.  I broke my promise to myself to never buy anything from Office Max again.  I was inadvertently out of printer ink, and I didn’t have time to drive the extra distance to Office Depot.

I handed my empty cartridge to the cashier for my $3 discount, and she told me that the store no longer does that.  Instead, she said I’d need to apply for some sort of card and they would then give me a credit on the card.  I guess that would be used to purchase prizes or something.

I told her I didn’t want to apply, to give me back my empty cartridge, to charge me the normal shelf price for the cartridge I was buying, and to count me as a former customer, effective July 6, 2008.

In the past 52 weeks, Office Max’s stock has dropped from a high of $40.16 to the close this past Friday of $13.98.  And that’s because gross sales and profits have dropped.  The chairman of the board notified stockholders that he thinks this can be solved by raising prices and cutting overhead.  He says the whole thing has been caused by the lowering of the economy.

The real problem is he, his officers and directors, and his store managers and employees don’t get it.  All they have to do is read this piece to know almost all they need to know about what to do.