Posted on 09/24/2008 3:23:57 PM PDT by normy
I own a company that repairs and replaces garage doors and openers and had a customer today that blew my mind.
She told me on the phone she had disassembled her door and couldn't put it back together. When I arrived she kept calling herself stupid and couldn't understand why she couldn't fix this since she was an engineer and a German at that.
When she raised the other door I noticed on her car an NRA sticker on the windshield.
Well I looked at her problem and it was simply two 1/2 inch nuts and bolts she had taken out of the tow arm that connects the opener to the door. All that was required was to simply put the two bolts back into the holes that were there and put the nuts on and tighten them.
I humored her so not to embarass her, seeing she was an engineer and all. I struck up a conversation noting she was an NRA member, I remarked how she must be a Sarah Palin fan.
"I can't stand her!" she retorted, "do you like her?"
"Well yeah" I said, "but don't be mad at me" I joked.
"No no" she responded "I just can't stand her, she is so uneducated and you should hear what the people in Europe are saying about her."
I was laughing inside because here was a German woman, living in the USA who was an engineer and couldn't put two bolts she had removed back into the holes where they went, mouthing Sarah Palins education.
After she wrote me a nice check for her stupidity and lack of any hands on skills (by the way she mouthed McCain's education too) I thanked her and drove away.
I called my friends to tell them this story and one said "You should have asked her if she thought Sarah Palin could have put those two bolts back in their holes".
Just a funny story and a little view into how certain people think education trumps real experience anyway no matter how little experience they have.
another garage door man. a rarity
i didn’t get your post Centurion until I read a couple of posts down. Wow talk about being on the same wave length.
I have no problem with taking a customer to the woodshed but it has to be a crooked customer, not a stupid one. Try to tell me quote was different than the one I told you, we have a problem. Just being an idiot isn’t worth it. I’ll take the cash instead.
I am reminded of the old anecdote told by some famous motivational speaker. It speaks to the notion of how elitists frequently look down upon laborers, but are nonetheless captive to them, because of their own stupidity. It went something like this:
I woke up Sunday morning to find a puddle on my kitchen floor by the sink. There was water leaking from under my sink. After calling a number of plumbers who said they could not respond on a Sunday, I finally got a guy who would come out. He said it would be $100 for him to show up and $25 for every half-hour thereafter. Desperate, I agreed.
He showed up soon enough, looked under the sink, applied a wrench to a valve nut, tightened it 3/4 of a turn, closed up his bag and said that would be $125.
Flabbergasted, I yelled at him, “you’re telling me that for you to come out here and turn a nut 3/4 of a turn, it’s gonna’ cost me $125!?”
“That’s right, sir,” he replied.
“Why, I’m a world renowned motivational speaker,” I told him, “and even I don’t get paid $125 for 15 seconds of work!”
“Well,” said the plumber, “when I was a world-renowned motivational speaker, I didn’t get paid that either. So that’s why I’m a plumber. $125, sir”
WWII was basically German engineers in Germany designing weapons to be used against weapons built in the USA that were designed by engineers of German ancestry.
My German wife is a devout Christian and can't stand Obama or Hillary.
I was amazed and delighted when, a few weeks ago, she commented on how liberals respond emotionally instead of thinking.
But did you get to “roor cause”?
Make it a six-sigma project?
Nothing is truly and totally screwed up until it’s a six sigma project.
Ach!!! Gott in Himmel! No wunder she vas halfing problems! Shudda been za 13 mm!
She vas yousing za DIN tool kit, nicht wahr?
Well, not all are like that. My cousin-in-law, Angie, is German and thrilled about Sarah. She was really pumped up at our family reunion on the Saturday after Sarah was announced as VP. She was going around to all the people there with the newspaper picture and telling them they had to vote for her.
i told him just to charge me the normal price and fix it.
A 21 dollar capacitor cost me 110 bucks plus service call and tax. The bill came to over 200.
What things cost are generally what it's worth to ya.
I actually had a similar thought!
“Well, not all are like that.”
Sure. As with any stereotype, it’s the loud and obnoxious that dictate the definition for the rest.
I just maintained a poker face, kept my mouth firmly shut, and petted the cat. Nothing would make me say "Biden"! (They never did recall Plug's name.)
Hearing Massachusetts and Six Sigma makes me immediately think of Raytheon (a good Democrat company, by the way).
(You're right about six sigma being able to screw up a wet dream)
> What things cost are generally what it’s worth to ya.
Egg-zackly. Which is why elitists get upset at the plumber... they fail to understand the free market.
I was going to school when I realized that if I put the money I was fixin to put into college into a business I already knew, I would be far wealthier in 5 years than "investing" it in college.
My brother did the college thing and he made out pretty well too though so it is a crap shoot, unless you know exactly what you want to do for a living.
Or light a “rocket”..........
It never does.............
In this case it's electricity for a major city and it's new "Freedom Towers".
Better now than latter.
That said, the power plants that will be provided will work, meet expectations and make the customer happy.
Isn't that all that they could ask?
FReegards, Yankee.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.