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CONFESSION #0859 — STAGING DISASTER
Thursday, September 10, 2026
The title search flagged something. That's what I should have been focused on. Instead I'm at the staging walkthrough arguing with the designer about a $400 velvet ottoman that looked like a bruise. Purple. Like actual purple. She's telling me it's "aubergine" and I'm telling her this is a three-bedroom in a school district, not a boutique hotel, and meanwhile nobody's looking at the survey from 1987 that shows the neighbor's fence is eight feet over the property line.
Buyers find out at closing. Their lawyer finds out. Everyone's looking at me like I personally built the fence.
The deal fell through. Lost the commission, lost the referral from the sellers' cousin who was relocating from Denver.
But here's the thing that kills me. The ottoman. The purple ottoman. Stayed in the house for the next showing. And that buyer? Loved it. Made an offer same day.
So apparently I'm wrong about everything.
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Judge Reginald Escrow III
⚖️ Presiding
GUILTY OF CRIMINAL OTTOMAN FIXATION RESULTING IN BOUNDARY LINE NEGLIGENCE AND FENCE-RELATED CATASTROPHE
The Court has reviewed this confession and finds itself DEEPLY CONFLICTED, which is unusual because Reginald is rarely conflicted about anything except whether to buy the extended warranty on kitchen appliances. You stood there, a licensed professional, debating the chromatic classification of upholstered furniture while a FENCE — an actual physical structure made of WOOD and NAILS and NEIGHBOR RESENTMENT — was staging an eight-foot territorial invasion that would make Genghis Khan blush. This Court has seen boundary disputes before, and in the landmark case of Henderson v. That Guy With The Weird Shrubs, 2019, we established that survey documents from the Reagan administration should ALWAYS take precedence over arguments about whether something is purple or aubergine, WHICH BY THE WAY IS JUST PURPLE FOR PEOPLE WHO SHOP AT WEST ELM. The designer was not the enemy here, counsel, YOU WERE YOUR OWN ENEMY, and frankly the ottoman was probably fine because apparently everyone else on this planet has better taste than both of us, which is a personal realization I did not expect to have today. The Court notes with some bitterness that the second buyer made an offer same day, proving once again that the universe rewards those who do not overthink soft goods. Reginald must now adjourn to contemplate his own decorating failures in chambers.
Aubergine Distraction Syndrome
Have a confession? Judge Reginald Escrow III's docket is always open.
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