Why we Were Happy to Overpay...

We would like to send a big thank you to Andy Andrews who shared another inspirational story with us.  Follow this link to view the article "Why It’s Good to Occasionally Overpay" at http://www.andyandrews.com/blog/why-its-good-to-occasionally-overpay/.  This article prompted us to share our own heartwarming story of someone that touched our lives and that we were very glad to pay too much for a service to.  We have heard Andy Andrews speak, read many of his books and love to read his emails and stories.  We never grow tired of being inspired by Andy Andrews!

For many years Nordstrom in Spokane had a wonderful shoe shine man in their men’s shoe department.  His name was Clarence.  Don would take shoes to him when we were going to be in Spokane and drop them off for Clarence to do his magic and turn Don’s scuffed shoes into shiny, well-polished and buffed shoes.  We could have sat for hours and watched Clarence perform his magic in his trade of polishing shoes, and many times he would share his many, many stories of growing up in the Deep South and joining the military and being stationed in Gt. Falls, Montana – and being sent to Havre, Montana to live – compliments of the US Air Force.  Yes, that is correct – the US Air Force and Havre, Montana.  He said that he had never been treated as well as he was by the good Montana citizens in Havre.  You see, Clarence was (as he called himself) a black man and he loved to tell stories how many of the good citizens of Havre had never seen a black man before and he had never been treated so well by so many “white people” (his words).  Clarence would take his shoe shine rags and make them sound like a train whistle and/or a train going down the tracks – no matter how many times we heard the same story or watched his leathered hands and shoe shine rags work their magic we never grew tired of watching him work at his craft. 

When Clarence was done polishing and shining Don’s shoes he would tell Don how much he was owed (which was never what it was worth), Don would gladly pay and then always leave a big tip.  So you see, like Andy Andrews, Don didn’t mind paying too much!  Clarence isn’t with us anymore, he has gone on to share his stories and craft with others in the heavens – so Clarence if we didn’t tell you enough before – “Thank you for making our day when we saw you and thank you for making both Don and Leslie Rich feel special and welcome at your shoe shine station.”

Is there someone that has touched your life?  Or is there someone that you have wanted to pay too much to for a service that you have received?  Share your story with us on our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CornerstoneWealthManagementPartners.

The Cornerstone Wealth Management Partners Team