A Tale of Two Cars
Feb 8, 2014
I went on a service call this morning, a few miles south to a posh community of McMansions. To my surprise, there was a Hummer parked in the driveway of the customer’s house. When he came to the door, he exclaimed that he had forgotten I was coming today. I said I hoped that was okay and we could still get the work done. Well no, he said, he didn’t need my services any more, he figured out what was wrong himself. Well, said I, you will have to pay me for my service call, I might as well check things out and make sure you got it right. Oh no, said he, he would not pay me for anything. He distinctly remembered instructing me to call the day before to remind him I was coming, so it was my fault for not doing so. And would I please get out of his house right now.
So, unexpectedly, I had some free time today to do bench work. But then I got a call from someone wanting me to put a new stereo in his 1995 Buick LeSabre. I had to check my stock to be sure I had the necessary parts, I said, but as it happened, I did, so I told him to come on over. And so he did, along with his wife and 2 year old boy. They sat on the front porch while I did the work. But I ran into a problem fitting the radio into the old car’s dash, and had to break out my Sawzall and do some surgery. I advised them that there would be an extra $20 charge for the additional time and effort. No problem, they said. When at last I was finished and pulled the car out, my customer was in the front yard dancing and singing with the child. They were delighted to have the new stereo and didn’t mind having to wait the extra half hour.
Now, three hours later, my day’s work done, I finally looked at their check. They tipped me ten bucks.
