Your Angry Little Money Light Is On Again!!

Today started out pretty boring….I had to get my car in to the shop to get a new thermostat and coolant temperature thingy installed.  This if done correctly, would make the little angry money light go out on my dashboard.  Oh, yeah, that’s officially known as the “Check Engine Light” or CEL.  I always thought instead of making it look like a small engine they should have made it in the form of a dollar sign. $$  That’s because when that little sucker comes on…..your spending money!  And isn’t it extremely annoying everytime you start the car?  It’s staring back at you like a dog waiting for a biscuit. You have to feed it!  And then there’s the embarassing explanation everytime someone gets in your car.   Anyway, that’s another blog, another day.  I satisfied the CEL’s desire for cash and went back to my office to get some work done and hopefully get a new client or two….January was a slow month.   I started speaking  to prospects….those that have been sued by others and who should need my valuable assistance in making the thing go away.  The first prospect I spoke to owed in excess of $17,000 to his creditor/supplier.  I asked why he did not pay the debt up until now and what he intended to do in his situation.  His answer was that he hadn’t paid it because his finances were poor and he intended to pay it in full as soon as he got the money.  I suggested that I could settle the matter out of court for him and negotiate a substantial amount off of the total.  His answer….no thanks I want to pay it in full because we owe it.  I said well aren’t you a nice guy. (sarcasm) They sued your a** and you want to pay them in full?  Ok, well I didn’t say it that way.  He said yes and that he felt obligated to do so.  I  hung up the phone admiring the guy.  Still clientless I made some more calls.  Finally locked in on another potential client.  He only owed $6400 to a law firm for unpaid legal bills.  (probably a divorce, I wonder if he’s paying his alimony or child support?) I asked him, why he did not pay it and what his intentions were now that he was facing litigation?  In short his response was he didn’t want to pay it, couldn’t pay it because his is broke and has bad credit.  His strategy was to show up at the hearing. (without first filing a defence)  He is employed and I warned him that the law firm would probably take a quick judgment because no defence was filed and there would be no hearing.  Then they would proceed to garnishee his wages.  After what was a good one hour discussion of his personal finances we agreed he should visit a bankruptcy trustee.  Free advice for him and no client for me.  Oh well, what’s for lunch?  There are two kinds of people in this world.  Those who care….and pay and those who don’t and don’t.  I’m in the former group…not the latter.  I’m conditioned to pay.  When that little angry money light comes on I just obey and pay.  (I wonder if they studied behaviour conditioning and found out that a little light on your dashboard works better than dog biscuits?) Oh sure I grumble a bit…okay maybe a lot but then I pay.  Tomorrow’s another day.  Hey leave me a note if you have a Check Engine Light story….I think I’ll start a blog about that.   Have a great Superbowl weekend and I’ll be back next week with another blog.  Cheers!