#521 Rent Success

There are different standards of success.
Some people are never satisfied. What great weather we’re having, you’ll say, and they’ll reply, my lawn is growing too fast.
They look for the dark cloud in every silver lining.
Different standards.
Like the guy who maintained “Brokeback Mountain” wasn’t a successful movie because it never had action figures. If success in a movie is defined by action figures, he’s got a point.
I was reading a story the other day about the drop off in newspaper circulation. The newspaper industry is worried because ad revenues are falling and actual paper units have dropped precipitously.
Birdcage owners are getting worried.
The article I read on it—online—listed the circulation of the ten largest (and presumably most successful) newspapers, starting with 2.2 million for USA Today and ending with the Arizona Republic at 433,000.
I noticed something.
The top 10 newspapers had a circulation of 10 million total. Youch. And our population is what, 300 million?
That’s really scary.
In a nation that was born on the broadsheets of the free press, whose diapers were muckraking yellow journals, whose red wagon pulling childhood years were defined by the struggle for supremacy of Hearst and other publishing titans, this is sad news indeed.
Let’s hope the other 290 million people never need to wrap fish.
Finally, some businesses just don’t have a successful word for success.
If I’m selling a suit, when I’m done I can say, “I had a SALE!” If I’m selling real estate. I have a “For Sale” sign on the property and when I sell it, I can put a big “SOLD” sign out.
For Sale. SOLD! Sounds so impressive.
But if I’m a leasing agent, I’m screwed.
If I lease a property, I’m just as successful. But my sign can’t say sold. For Lease. Sold. Doesn’t work.
So I’m stuck with: For Lease. Leased!
Sounds pretty anemic.
Too bad. As much work or more was involved. But our language doesn’t have a standard word that conveys the appropriate measure of success.
Standards.
To me, the weather’s good when the lawn is growing faster than the moss.
America, ya gotta love it