At the end of the elegant champagne brunch, my client told me she was
walking out the door chatting with several other guests. Just then, Lady
Stephanie sidled up to one woman leaving at the same time as my client.
Oh, Im so happy you were admiing my FabergŽ collection, Lady Stephanie
said, sliding her hand into the pocket of the guests mink coat and plucking
out one of
327
her priceless eggs. You must have wanted to see this one in the sunlight.
Come, let us look at it together. It does reflect the bright light beautifully.
The mink-clad thief gulped and furtively looked around to see who had
witnessed her gentle entrapment. My client and everyone in the foyer saw
what happened, but took Lady Stephanies lead and pretended na•vetŽ of the
attempted heist.
Carrying the charade a step further, Lady Stephanie and the sticky-
fingered guest admired the egg in the sunlight. Then Lady Stephanie, with
her FabergŽ egg secured safely between her pefectly manicured fingers,
marched home to put the treasure in its rightful place. The attempted egg
snatcher crawled back to her car, from her last attendance at Lady
Stephanies coveted bashes. The hostess let the foiled filcher get away with a
few slivered shreds of her ego left intact.
Why did Lady Stephanie come out ahead? Everyone who winessedand
subsequently heard aboutthe thwarted burglary has renewed respect for
Lady Stephanie. Snaring the thief, yet sparing her pride, helped Lady
Stephanie keep her reputation of hostess with the mostest.
Why do big winners let bad-news people get away with bumers?
Because, like mothers confronting naughty children to corect them,
confronting creeps is a way of saying I care. By closing your mouth (and
then the door forever), you are saying, You are so beneath me Im not going
to even waste my words on you.
Mea Culpa!
Big winners leave an escape hatch for the small foibles of friends they
wish to keep by taking the blame themselves. If a friend gets lost and is an
hour late arriving at your house, tell her Those directions I gave you were
terrible. He breaks your Limoges bowl? Oh I shouldnt have left it in such a
precarious position. Its the
How to Trap a Rat with Class 329
ooja
(Ooja)
#1