REALTORS Incur My Grapes of Wrath!

"ABC: Always Be Closing." That's the motto of Alec Baldwin's indelible character in David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross. It also seems the National Assocition of Realtors has taken these words to heart in its latest attempt to pop the American public up the poop shoot. In the face of a growing economic recession, in which foreclosure rates skyrocketed 60 percent last month from February 2007, and Americans own less equity in their homes than they have since World War II, the NAR has launched a new "public awareness campaign" to get people to buy homes, positioning ownership as a fantastic way to "build long-term wealth."

Whaaaa??? Let me get this straight, Suits McGee: typical American families are having trouble making ends meet in the short-term, so you want them to go buy a house for the long-term? And what, live in their minivans in the interim? Gives a whole new meaning and importance to stow-and-go seating.

"Honey, let's pack up the Kia Sedona
and hit the open road!"
We'll cluster with other families and establish a new generation of whole dust bowl colonies while the new homes we all can't afford to live in appreciate. It'll be like The Grapes of Wrath, only the kids'll get to watch Shrek 3 on their in-vehicle DVD players while Mom warms up some grilled cheese on the George Foreman grill she's amped up with the cigarette lighter.

Now let's get real, REALTORS. It astounds me that you can be so ignorant and insensitive. Worse, that you can tarnish the good name of agents who actually care about their clients and help bring good home buyers and good homes together. This "awareness campaign" is nothing short of tasteless...unless you count the taste of blood on my tongue when I saw your ad on TV tonight.