The Unpredictable Life of a Notary Signing Agent

There's a famous scene in ER where Dr. Peter Benton tells Dr. John Carter to eat whenever he has the chance, because he never knows when he'll get another opportunity.

I recently heard the same advice in a police novel. An experienced officer told the rookie, "Eat when you can. Use the restroom when you can. You never know when the next call is coming."

I smiled because that's exactly how life works as a notary signing agent.

If I have a few quiet hours, I don't assume I'll still have them twenty minutes from now. An emergency signing can appear without warning, leaving me just enough time to print hundreds of pages, get dressed, gather my supplies, and head out the door.

I can think I'm finished for the night at 8:00 p.m., only to receive a call for a loan that absolutely has to close that evening. By the time I get home, print the documents, drive back out, complete the signing, and return, it may be after 10:00 p.m.

Some mornings I wake up with five appointments on my calendar and end the day with only one because four canceled.

Other days I start with one signing and somehow end up completing five because four more appeared out of nowhere.

Nothing about this business is predictable.

That's why we eat when we can. We stop for the restroom when we can. We fuel the car whenever we have the opportunity. We print when the documents arrive. We grab moments to rest because we don't know if they'll last.

Most people only see us for the 30 or 60 minutes we're sitting at their kitchen table.

They don't see the life built around being ready.

Ready to leave.

Ready to change plans.

Ready to work weekends, evenings, and holidays.

Ready to serve someone else's deadline.

It's one of the unseen sacrifices of being a professional notary signing agent—and one of the reasons flexibility is just as important as experience.