Treat EVERYONE as if they are the person who can either write the check or say, ‘No’.

Always take the high road and treat everyone with respect, because you never know who that person is, or who the know.

And Matt, what was that company’s name?

I logged my last day of shopping at a local upscale jewelry store when my spouse and I made a hurried stop en route to buy a gift for my mother for Mother’s Day. The sales clerk walked across the near-empty store (remember the bad economy thing that’s been going on for the past year?) and paused to inspect our traveling attire of jeans and sandals. After several minutes of us looking through the cases to find just the right piece for my dear old mum, the clerk haughtily suggested, “There’s an outlet mall about 3 miles up the road. Perhaps you can find what you’re looking for at one of the kiosks there.” It took me so by surprise all I could do was laugh at the transparency of the jab. My spouse was less amused and offered to return our previous purchases in a way which could be physically painful for those involved. We never got a chance to creatively return the merchandise however: The store hung their “Going Out Of Business” sign shortly thereafter and is now closed. I often wonder if the sales clerk was able to get a job at one of those jewelry kiosks in that outlet mall up the road…