Fire or Skunk?

When driving home to our apartment, Rika and I saw a skunk waddling along the sidewalk. We had never seen a skunk before, but we recognized it from pictures and movies we have seen. It was great to see our first skunk! (This is our ninth year in North America.)We parked the car, got into the elevator and smelled something burning. As the elevator rose to our home on the eleventh floor, the smell got stronger. We were convinced there was a fire and surprised that the fire alarm hadn’t sounded. Our Chinese neighbors were outside our apartment and they were worried about their aged parents and the smell of fire. As the smell continued to increase, I decided to call 911. I told the operator I wasn’t sure if it was, indeed, a fire, but they said, “Better safe than sorry. Hit the alarm, sir. We’re coming.”

Three fire trucks arrived within four minutes and as they arrived one of our neighbors rushed up to them, holding his dog, Prince. He told us that the skunk we had seen (or a friend of the skunk we had seen) had sprayed Prince. One of the firemen said, “I know the smell of skunk!” I was really embarrassed but the firemen were very gracious and forgiving – they’re used to dumb immigrants like me! It was a relief and also an education; the smell hung around for days afterwards, even though the skunk never even entered the building. Jennifer Beale told me her dog was sprayed and the smell stayed on him for a month! Poor Prince. But he’ll survive.

Sometimes in life, we interpret a relatively harmless, albeit uncomfortable, skunk smell as a dangerous, life-threatening fire. That happens when we lack information and objectivity. And it could cost us money – what does it cost for three fire trucks to make a call? When you’re scared or emotional, you sometimes leap to confusions as I did. That’s why it’s so important to build a strong support system of smart, successful, positive people in your life and in your business. One phone call can change panic into peace and perspective. Often, we overreact to innocuous irritations. As a great speaker once said, “A lump in the throat is an inconvenience; a lump in the breast is more serious.” Usually, all we need is more information to resolve a sleepless night and sweaty palms. But it’s very important to determine the correct source of that information. When my information was from equally uninformed immigrants, I remained in the dark. You’re richer than you think, and often your mountains are really just molehills. A dangerous fire might just be a wandering skunk.

There are a lot of people out there, offering incorrect information to vulnerable people. We need to make sure that we’re getting appropriate information at all times. When you’re about to strut out onto an icy lake, you might want to first ask a few local yokels if it’s a good idea. When you decide to spend your life savings on the latest get rich quick scheme or a mutual fund, perhaps you should secure the counsel of a trusted third party who understands money and business, not a bank manager. (If your bank manager understood business, he’d have one.) Asking a virgin about childbirth is equally ridiculous. If you asked me about the smell of a skunk two weeks ago, I would give you the wrong information.

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Robin J. Elliott