Proverb: Outsmarting Yourself

Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

See the man who thinks he's so smart?

You can expect far more from a fool than from him.

Proverbs 26:12

 

A woman in Ohio is telling the story today of a cleaning woman who came in to her home, did a random smattering of cleaning, then left a bill for $75 on the table for services rendered.  While the homeowner was gone and her daughter asleep upstairs, the cleaning lady washed 2 mugs sitting in the sink, took out the trash, vacuumed the living room carpet, and straightened up the toys in the playroom.  She then left a handwritten bill on the dining room table, giving her name, telephone number and the request for a payment of $75.  The homeowner looked up the name online and discovered that the woman had a local cleaning business.  Figuring the woman had simply made a mistake and tidied the wrong house, she called her.  "No," the cleaning lady said, "I do this all the time - just stop at a random house, clean, and leave a bill.  Gets me new business!"

Well, this intrepid businesswoman didn't get any new business there; instead, the homeowner called the police, and she was arrested for trespassing and breaking/entering.  Obviously this so-called advertising ploy must have worked for her at some point, or else she wouldn't keep doing it.  However, entering someone's home without their permission is against the law in every state in the Union, and one would think she would know that.  Once the story of her escapade hits the local news, I can't imagine any of her customers wanting her back in their home.

All of us have had the experience of dreaming up a "really great idea" that on further reflection is revealed to be wrong, expensive, or just plain stupid.  Hopefully, for most of us, that reflection happens before we put the idea into action rather than afterwards.