Assume NOTHING!

When I was in college at Goldey Beacom College in Wilmignton, DE, I worked at the Wilmington Housing Authority and for a lady named Cindy Dragonas. Cindy always looked over the top of her half glasses and pointed her finger at you when you assumed things you shouldn't have and would say "Assume NOTHING!" while shaking her finger at you. That image and experience has always stuck with me... unfortunately I haven't always heeded that wisdom!

That's kind of what happened yesterday with the ebay thing. I ended up emailing the guy back and saying that I wasn't sure why it mattered for me to mention my relationship with the artist in my product description on ebay and then I told him that I was good friends with the artist and we both served together in our local NWTF chapter and we enjoyed lots of time hunting together. Here's where I was wrong... his response to me was that he thought this was the case and encouraged me to share that information in the listing because he thought it would increase bidding by giving folks confidence because I had a legitimate source. It was helpful advice and reminded me that it's best to Assume Nothing! when dealing with people.

Now about legitimacy. I had already disclosed in the description that I was acquiring them directly from the artist. Oh well, we will see if saying more helps... one thing is for sure though that practicing the assume nothing philosophy would have saved me some frustration.