Around the CoRner: VOTE!

by Don Lovering June 1, 2019

Ever notice that the folks who complain the loudest about traffic and road congestion are the same people who leave their house at the same time every day and are habitually late for work? Or the friend or associate who believes the server in the restaurant is making big bucks, so why should they give more than $3 for a tip? Or the classic “those people are taking jobs away from our people,” except none of “our people” want to do that job for what “those people” are being paid.

If you happen to be traveling any distance by automobile and the car’s navigation system announces for you to change course, you might wonder aloud, “Why?” But the voice does not answer you—because it is a computer fed by a satellite (and it doesn’t like you anyway). This is not an insult—my navigation system tells me all the time that I am going the wrong way, but as a home inspector, I know that I am smarter than that voice coming from my dashboard. Even though the voice is right and I take this route whenever I can.

I am told with more than a bit of frequency that ASHI members are not happy with current situations. If you consider that, in general, people with “alpha personalities” are the proprietors of small businesses like home inspection businesses, then vocal complaining is an essential part of the package. Let’s face it. This is one thing that we are good at—complaining. And yet, we are also adept at embracing a rapid change in direction when necessary.

So, why do so many of you watch reruns of “Modern Family,” but choose not to vote in ASHI’s elections in order to effect change in areas within this organization? You can change the direction of leadership, financial planning and marketing of the organization and so much more. If you think an idea smells like a polecat in the closet, please help kill it by using whatever voting decision you choose. And if you want to verbalize your opinions, call your representative to the ASHI Council of Representatives (CoR). Representing you is why these ASHI members got elected and why the CoR meets every month to review the issues that are important to you. Nobody else does! So, if you use the tools available to you (voting!), change can be lightning fast. It’s your $450.

Vote (noun): a usually formal expression of opinion or will in response to a proposed decision. Especially: one given as an indication of approval or disapproval of a proposal, motion, or candidate for office. (Source: www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vote; entry 2 of 2, definition 1a)

Donald Lovering is the Speaker of the ASHI Council of Representatives for 2019-2020. Email him at stonehouse1@earthlink.net.

 

Don Lovering was an ASHI Board Member and the Chief Inspector at Advantage Home Inspection, Inc., in Auburndale, MA. He still has a hard-line telephone (617-928-1942) and is an active member of ASHI locally and nationally. Don has been a Chapter President and National Committee Chair, as well as a college professor. He is also a past-president of the Examination Board of Professional Home Inspectors (EBPHI). He has been published in the ASHI Reporter and testified on home inspector licensing in six states. Don’s leisure activities rotate around his farm and working with Vermont Fish and Wildlife as a volunteer instructor.

 


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