Be prepared for an ambush.
I’ll be out and about, and may drop by to discover what’s on your office desk. It’s a good way to meet the person behind the business card. We’ll talk about your photos, your trinkets, your snacks. Our desks tell who we are.
Last week, folks at Windermere Real Estate, 801 State Ave. in Marysville, welcomed my cold call and showed me around.
Jean Gabriel, administrative assistant, was listening to Filipino music from her homeland. The military brat has been in Washington for seven years. She had a lava lamp filled with tiny houses that bubbled, a gift from a bank.
Opening an upper drawer, Dan McClure, associate broker, said he polished off Gummi bears that morning but had Trader Joe’s multiseed with soy sauce crackers and dark chocolate M&Ms on hand.
McClure started scuba diving a year ago and posted a snapshot of himself in the water off Mukilteo. And there he was, made up like a member of KISS, helping raise more than $8,000 for Housing Hope at a charity bowling event.
“See my ‘Don’t Panic’ rubber stamp?” McClure asked.
He introduced me to Realtor Monika Jelonek, 24, from Poland, who uses a wine glass for drinking water. On her wall she had a snapshot of herself and a crab she caught.
“I’m normally afraid of things like crabs,” Jelonek said.
A little golden tree on the corner of her desk made with wire and pebbles, came from Poland. Her grandmother gave her the good luck charm.
Upstairs is the office for broker Jim Rowley, a member of the Tyee Club at the University of Washington. Rowley is building a home on the north end of Camano Island with his commander in chief — wife, Barbara — and their dog, Annie, who yes, was an orphan.
Rightly proud to display many awards for community good deeds, there is also sports memorabilia on shelves including a baseball signed by St. Louis Cardinal Stan “The Man” Musial. There was a set of books by Zane Grey and “The Caine Mutiny.”
Lack of time kept Debbie Barger Smith from cashing in a winning scratch lottery ticket from Christmas. Her snapshots include lots of family pictures as well as children of clients who became friends.
One of two plants was given in gratitude from coaches at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, for her work with the booster club. And there was tea, several types of tea, in drawers, on a shelf, and on her desk.
And under her desk is a silver doggie dish for fresh water, just in case a four-legged visitor drops by the warm office.
Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.
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