"Ain't nobody gonna hurt you if they don't know you got it"

Some twenty years ago we had a sales rep in Brazil, whom I was going to visit.  He wanted me to bring his commission, some $5,000, in cash.  The Brazilian economy had a really high inflation rate right then (close to 1% PER DAY) and US dollars were almost like gold!  I was reluctant to carry that much cash for fear of being robbed or worse.  Howard "reassured" me by telling me to be casual and calm and telling me that "Richard, ain't nobody gonna hurt you if they don't know you got it."  In short, don't act like you have anything special.

I have a friend who built a new house several years ago.  It was an attractive larger house.   He was asked by a friend when he was going to cut down the grove of trees in front of it so people could see his new house.  His response:  "I am not going to remove the trees.  We built the house for us, not to show off to people."  And then they planted even more trees.

The moral of these two stories.   In the big picture, be discreet and don't "flash around" whatever you may have.  You should want people to accept you for whom you are, not what you have.  Nobody likes a braggart.


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