Prejudice cannot see the things that are because it is always looking for things that aren’t. –Anonymous
Recently we had an tipping point experience that coalesced a lifetime of observations and encounters into a need to speak. A woman who has Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) contacted us to help her buy a home in or around Santa Fe. According to MultipleChemicalSensitivity.org, people with MCS have acute sensitivity or allergic-like reactions “to a variety of chemical pollutants and chemical substances including solvents, VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds), perfumes, petrol, diesel, smoke, “chemicals” in general and [may have] problems with regard to pollen, house dust mites, and pet fur & dander.” At present, the cause and complete nature of MCS is not fully understood–words that were once said of other medical conditions such as Epstein-Barr, Lyme disease, and Fibromyalgia. Some, including Quackwatch.com dismiss the symptoms as psychologically based. When we called one agent to ask her the roster of screening questions we need to pose to see if the house might be a fit (presence of mothballs, herbicides, pesticides, petroleum products, carpet, etc.) the agent said, “Sounds like…You just have a difficult client.”
Last year, we took a National Association of Realtors’ Course entitled, At Home With Diversity (ATWD). ATWD aims, among other objectives, to help agents “examine cultural stereotypes, assumptions, and biases to increase awareness of such thoughts and attitudes, and learn how to value individual differences.” Although much of the course’s material focuses on ensuring compliance with Fair Housing Laws and tapping into the growing multicultural market, that sentence is more a call to shift one’s consciousness than a marketing or legally protective strategy.
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness –Mark Twain
My curiosity and drive to explore diversity, born of extensive travel, life abroad and early inculcation by my parents that differences were interesting, rather than repulsive, is part of why I chose to get involved in real estate and to live in the small but broad-spirited town of Santa Fe. Real estate expands our human horizons. We never know who’s going to roll up on our doorstep. But we ALL have biases and blind spots. We’ve learned so much in the week we’ve been working with this client. For example, just because a house is a Green build doesn’t mean it will be a suitable home for someone with MCS. Our client cannot tolerate a wood stain made by a company that states that its products are free of harmful chemicals and toxins. Until she told us, I would have thought the product would be safe.
We’re not here to paint ourselves as righteously superior. We, too, have our notions and our limitations. The point for all of us who claim to be professionals is to “~ examine [our] cultural stereotypes, assumptions, and biases ~ to increase awareness of such thoughts and attitudes, and ~ learn how to value individual differences.”
Comfort with a difference is an ongoing process; new opportunities arise with every human encounter. Being at peace with difference starts with an open and curious mind.
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