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Feeling a little philosophical today…

 

I’m going to be heading out to Las Vegas soon to catch up with a few of my oldest, dearest friends.  It’s been almost 15 years since we left the halls of THE Ohio State University to make our way in the world, and those 15 years have treated each of us very well.  It’s fair to say that each of the guys attending has had a successful career to date.

 

One of my buddies has made a big show recently about our impending trip.  We can only stay at the Wynn.  We should bring jackets for dinner.  And…this one cracks me up….we should think about doing table service.

 

Table service?  If you’re not familiar with the concept of “table service,” it’s one of the leisure world’s most ostentatious displays of decadence.  Essentially, the Very Important Customer pays a ridiculous sum (think 4 digits or more) for a bottle of premium liquor.  The Very Important Person and his Equally Important Buddies are then seated at a Very Prominent Table and given Very Visible Perks, such as establishment escorts in and out of the plebian restrooms (i.e. bodyguards—as though the Very Important People couldn’t quite, um…get ‘er done on their own or in the presence of the unwashed masses).

 

Needless to say, I’ve promised my buddy a trip to one of the less disinfected establishments on the strip each time he so much as utters the term “table service” again.

 

I mentioned this story to my barber, who summed it up perfectly—“always remember where you came from.”  Indeed.  My buddy is only 15 years removed from eating Ramen noodles out of a dirty pot, hoping against hope he’d have one more Busch Lite awaiting him in his 20 year old refrigerator.  Most of us are.

 

Table service!

 

There may be a lesson here for folks across the mortgage and settlement services industry as well, and this is not to say that those struggling through the downcycle somehow forgot where they came from.  Few, if any of those struggling to make payroll “deserved” the consequences of the collapse.  And, it would seem, most of those who do “deserve” some sort of semi-instant Karma won’t be getting it any time soon.

 

But to me, the lesson is this.  In good times (can’t wait to start using the word “spike” again), don’t forget your vendors, your colleagues, your staff and the others who helped you build your business to a level of success.  Never forget what you did to get to that peak.  Never be ashamed to roll up your sleeves and get back into the trenches.

 

After all, one never knows when one will end up back in the trenches again.