Hey, we’ll do another one. Really

Groucho Marx said he would never belong to a club that would accept him as a member. That kind of perverse reaction to an engraved invitation comes to mind when I opened the mail.

I received a letter from someone who was complaining about not being in the Numismatics Industry Directory that Numismatic News recently published. I am not alone in my receipt of communications of this type. Most of these letters and e-mails, though, are going to the ad department.

The odd thing is, as the ad department checks into each and every contact of this kind, nearly all of the complainers were contacted, sometimes multiple times. They turned down the opportunity. Apparently, the directory now is a hit. I am glad. The ad department will work very hard to get dealers into the next issue of the Numismatics Industry Directory.

There seems to be no greater incentive to do something than suddenly feeling left out. There is a social value of being seen in the company of one’s peers. There is also the inevitable question from newcomers posed to someone in the business of why their name is not in the directory if they are who they say they are.

The staff here doesn’t try to make life difficult, but if someone turns down the opportunity of taking out an ad and doesn’t act on the offer of a free listing, it becomes a matter where the ad staff cannot save the person from himself.

The lesson for everyone is that the next time you react to an offer quickly, perhaps you should put it aside for 24 hours and take a look at it again. Sure, you are probably right 90 percent of the time, but just maybe there is an offer like the one we made to dealers to get in on the ground floor of a new Numismatics Industry Directory.

Just maybe that offer is worth a second look and a resounding “Yes” in response. Think about it.