Myth Vs Reality

The Burrito Was Gone
By the Second Break. 

So I was asked to take a class on prelicensing by Beth, the real estate school's owner and essentially my boss. The six hour class was held at the Arizona Department of Real Estate. And I have to tell you, I was stoked! Not only was this the first class I ever took at the Department, but teaching real estate has been on my bucket list and now, not only can I teach but after this class, I would be able to teach the unknowing public how to be rock star real estate professionals. So, this class was like winning the instructor lottery!

Now then, for the last 16+ years, when I have taken a 6 hour class for real estate, it comes with lunch, or a menu where I can pre-purchase lunch. The students all dress in jeans or something casual, while the instructor dresses up. Materials are generally provided and we have an idea what we are in for.

So, here I was, going down to the ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF REAL ESTATE and I was in full-nerd mode. I dressed up, because after all, I was an instructor and this was instructor training. Because it is required to be on time for these classes, I left twenty minutes earlier than I probably needed to. It was raining. So I rummaged through until I found the only existing umbrella in Mesa, AZ. I also packed a protein bar--just in case lunch was lobster. And then, I drove in rush hour, in the rain, on my merry way for a delightful day of instructor preliscensing joy!

I arrived early enough, but found out my car was not welcome anywhere close--did I mention it was raining? I ended up muddling my way through downtown Phoenix, bladder full, looking for somewhere I didn't have to walk too far. I am not making this up when I say Dee and her Merry Band of Felons live directly three blocks North of where I was. I thought about parking at her house, and perhaps one of her Felons could escort me through the scary neighborhood, but I didn't want to be late. After all, THIS WAS INSTRUCTOR TRAINING AT THE ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF REAL ESTATE!

28 Pages and 6 Hours of This

After the medal detector (which went off and I got a "go through, you look safe,") and a bathroom, I found my class. The seven other folks were dressed in jeans and were playing on their phones. Lance, the class monitor said, "Good morning. If you need the bathrooms they are out the door. We will only take two 10 minute breaks. For lunch, there's a vending machine downstairs. And then we will leave a little bit after 2."

Instructor training consisted of sitting through a video of a bunch of folks being trained last year. Six hours of this. The person running the camera was a mouth breather and it sounded like six hours of training with an obscene phone call as an audio underlayment. Somewhere in the video the audience had a quasi-lively debate of whether the Dodgers or the Red Sox would win the 2018 World Series. They were obviously having a better time than those of us yesterday.  There was no new material introduced. It was "When you teach prelicenseing, make sure to touch on these points." And there were--and I am not making this up--28 pages of "points." And yes, four people tag-teamed the reading of the 28 pages of points to cover when teaching prelicensing.

Our second 10 minute break turned out to be the Real Estate Commissioner dropping into the conference room for a quick hello, that lasted about 25 minutes. It was informative, and one doesn't excuse themselves for the potty or for the last burrito in the vending machine when Madame Real Estate Commissioner comes in to chat. As soon as she left, the video started up again and I opted to deal with the consequences of me being out of my seat as I ran out of the room to answer nature's call. Lance, however, took one look at my face and decided he could let this one minor transgression go.

We ended at 3, with me now in possession of a fancy certificate saying I can teach prelisensing. As soon as I was out the door, I hangrily texted Bonus Dad and told him I was on my way! We had a nice dinner at Pei Wei in Central Phoenix, which made me forget all about the craziness of the past few hours.