“Oh, it's nothing,” replied the old man soothingly. “These things happen, and nothing appears to be broken or in the wrong place.”

“Are you sure? Maybe we should get you to an emergency room, have the doctors take some x-rays, make sure you are okay. Is there anyone I can call? Do you need an ambulance?”

“Hey, now, George, calm down, I'm fine. It's not like I'm planning to sue you or something.”

Strangely enough, George was forced to admit to himself with more than a little guilt, that very possibility had leaped into his mind all too quickly. Gosh, had he come so far that litigation was more his worry than another person's health? Maybe it was time to hang it up. Suddenly a slight sense of unease came over him as he realized what the stranger had said.

“Wait a minute. How did you know my name was George?”

“Oh, everybody in Bedford Falls knows you, George. You're the insurance guy!”

“Yeah, great. Just what I needed to hear right now. Not George, the nice guy. Not George the great guy. I'm George, the 'everybody hates insurance' guy. Thanks for making my day even worse. And who, by the way, are you? I don't remember seeing you around before.”

“Clarence, at your service.”

“Well, glad to meet you, Clarence. Of course, I wish we had met a bit less violently. Sorry again.”

“No problem. Actually, it's more my fault since I was looking for you anyway and probably got a bit too involved in studying your face to get out of your way.”

“Studying my…all right, now you are creeping me out. Maybe it would be best, if you're not hurt, to just part ways. What are you, one of the Facebook lurkers, stalking your Frontierville neighbors? 'Liking' me doesn't mean liking me, if you catch my drift.”

“George, you are truly an original. I'm not here to harass, but to help. Did you or did you not just have one of the worst days of your insurance life?”

“Still am, actually, and you're not helping things.”

“Ah, but that is precisely why I'm here, George–to help! Somehow you have come to the point where you seem to think your job is a pointless, dead-end waste of time. Nobody likes you or your products and services. Just get rid of this overpriced, rip-off excuse for business fraud called insurance and the uncaring drones that force it on the public like you and the world would be a better place, right?”

“Well, there are days it sure seems that way. If it's not price, it's claims, or the economy. I'm only trying to help, but lately folks hate to see me coming and I hate to see them hate to see me coming. It gets old, you know?”

“George, take a little walk around town with me.”

“Um, not sure that's a good idea, pal. Maybe you should just take your walk and I'll get on home.”

“Sorry, George, this is what my Boss calls 'non-optional behavior.' Even if you just stand here, we're going to take that walk.”

“Now that is just ridicu…hold on, where are we?”

“Standing in front of the Capra's home. You don't recognize it?”

“How did you? I mean, I never moved! There is no way that we are…wait a minute, that is the Capra place?”

“Yep.”

“But what happened? There is nothing here but a burned-out hulk. Where are they?”

“Moved away, George. After that big fire started from those defective Christmas tree lights, they lost everything. Luckily the family got out before the roof fell in, but all they had left were literally the clothes on their backs. The local churches and charities helped out, but with no real chance to rebuild or find another place to live they finally had to move in with relatives three states away.”

“But Frankie Capra grew up in this town. He and his wife were pillars of the church and PTA, and the kids were mainstays in school activities, as well as just the kind of kids you liked having around. That family made the whole town better just by being here!”

“And here they would still be, George, if you had been around to provide that good homeowners' policy that would have not only paid for their property, but also provided the additional living expense to give them safe and secure shelter until their home was rebuilt.”

“But I did write them that policy!”

“No, you didn't. You got out of the business, remember? Burned out and burned up, you chucked this waste of time. So no you, no coverage for the Capras, no choice but to see their lives irrevocably altered by a chance event, and not for the better.”

“Well, I guess I never thought about it that way.”

“While you are thinking…”

“All right, now where are we?”

“Looking at Jim Stewart's warehouse and distribution center.”

“But there is nothing here! Don't tell me the fire burned everything up. This is just a vacant field.”

“Right as rain, George. There is nothing here because Stewart never built here. Seems his prior location took a direct hit from a tornado while he was still drawing up the plans for his new location–this one.”

“But what does that have to do with me? Oh, I get it. I would have written his windstorm coverage, right? So he could have rebuilt after the storm.”

“You got it.'

“So he rebuilds his previous location. How does that lead to here?”

“George, you underestimate yourself. If you had been here, Stewart would not just have been covered for windstorm, but business income. He would not only have been able to rebuild his prior location, but he would have been able to cover his lost revenue and continuing expenses during the rebuilding time. Do you have any idea how many businesses, particularly in a tough economy, will suffer a loss and even with adequate direct property insurance still go broke? How do you think they'll feel when they realize that while they will get a brand spanking new building at some point, during a long rebuilding process there will be no cash flow? No way to keep key employees, pay ongoing obligations or possibly fund getting at least partially back into business at a temporary location? Without someone sharp like you to go that extra mile with your coverage recommendations, guys like Stewart are toast following a loss. The reason there is no business here, George, providing employment, payroll and tax revenues to your town, is Stewart's business didn't survive that tornado to build it.”

“Gosh, Clarence, I guess my work is a lot more important than I thought.”

“Not important, George, priceless. We could spend hours going around your town where I show you liability losses not paid, lives not mended, property not rebuilt, autos not repaired, and incomes not protected. And it's not just the insurance, George, it's you. Without your expertise, your willingness and yes, your compassion, insurance is just another product to be priced and sold like boxes on a shelf. Intelligent, intentional insurance changes lives, saves lives, preserves a way of life. That's not a commodity, that's a calling!”

“Clarence, what a Christmas gift you have given me! From now on, I'll try to think of bad days as just that–bad days. Not fun, but definitely not a reason to hang it up. In fact, I gotta go! I got things to do, people to help! Clarence, how can I ever thank you?”

“None needed. Believe me, seeing you like this after the way you looked earlier is like putting wings on my, er, feet. Now go home, hug your wife and kids, and have a wonderful life!”

And so say we–Merry Christmas to one and all!

Read Chris Amrhein's November column, “What prospects fear.”