CityView Magazine

12 | April 2015 BY BILL MCFADYEN McFadyen's Musings R elatively early in my real estate career, I walked into Riddle Commercial Proper- ties for some unmemorable reason. Most likely, it was as much an attempt to be noticed as a vi- able commercial broker as anything else. I probably cursed myself for not having tried to be more charm- ing around Sharlene Riddle in high school. If I had, maybe I would not be ringing an outside buzzer at that moment just in hopes of getting in front of the receptionist. I did make it to the front desk. e nice lady got on the intercom and explained to whomever that "a Bill McFadyen" was here. Over to the right of the receptionist's desk, you could feel ripples of movement beginning inside an office. It had a power to it. Not a hurricane, but a rising gale with an obviousness that caused me to watch the doorway to see what would emerge behind the former stillness. at was when I first remember March Floyd Riddle, for she was that emerging force. I am sure Mrs. Riddle and I had been in close proximity before that moment. I grew up in Fayetteville, frequenting many of the same places as did her children. Until that moment outside her office, though, I would not have been able to pick her out of the proverbial line-up. I had no idea that she even knew my name. "Bill McFadyen! Is that you?" stormed the gale. I somehow knew immediately that it was she. "Yes ma'am, it is." "Come in here. I want to talk to you." When a man has lived a life of unaccount- ed-for sin, when one has stretched the limits of good behavior to just beneath the point of breaking, and when a matriarch of one's peers demands your attention on her home turf without your having any forewarning, it is fascinating how quickly that same man's brain can calculate how his sins may have been of ancillary offense to someone like Mrs. Riddle. I obeyed and I sat. I remember a small amount of curiosity and a grander amount of fear. "Bill McFadyen," again using both first and last name, heightening the fear way more than the curiosity, "they tell me you have a listing next to land I own in Spring Lake. Is that true?" At least we were talking business and not behavior. "Yes ma'am, I do. I have an acre of land on Bragg Boulevard in front of Deerfield subdivision. It joins you on your north side." I was feeling much more in my element. Heck, I might bypass Sharlene and Joe and Carolyn on the first visit and end up in a sales contract with Mrs. Riddle herself without so much as a letter of introduction. THE GALES OF march www.faypwc.com Reduce Your Footprint (Little Feet Can Help Too) Energy- and water-saving habits are an important part of reducing your "footprint" on our environment. And there are many conservation habits the whole family can adopt. For example: • Turn off lights, TVs, etc. when you leave the room. • Don't leave the water running while you brush your teeth (or shave). • Together as a family, plant a tree to shade your home. The family fun activity will help cool down your house without using any electricity. For more valuable conservation tips, visit PWC's website. i Stay connected with PWC through

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