Flakey Customer

[Tom Cole]

Late Night Philosophizing
-------------------------

It is rare that a customer will not pay me for my services.
Occasionally, I'll need to leave a bill but soon the check comes.
Whether it's that piano owners are more responsible or that I know where
they live or... maybe somebody has a good answer for this one. Suffice
to say that it's a nice aspect of this business (now institutions,
that's another story).

I had a customer, Vic, whom I have characterized as
less-than-responsible. After the first service call, he would always pay
me in arrears, later and later each time. One time, he neglected to send
me a check altogether. Returning the following year, I mentioned it to
him and he apologized and immediately wrote me a check - for the
previous tuning - and left, as in the past, without paying me for the
_current_ one. I felt unappreciated.

Years went by and he didn't call. I began to think (hope) that he had
left the area. Tonight, as my wife and I were enduring a very long wait
at a popular restaurant, much longer than anticipated, I noticed that
ol' Vic had entered the waiting area. Too grouchy from hunger and a long
day to be glad-handed by a non-paying customer, I prayed that he might
choose not to recognize me to avoid a confrontation.

Not so. He came right over and struck up a lively conversation: trekking
in Nepal, visited friends in Australia, went to New Zealand, Bali, Alpha
Centauri... It was difficult to feign interest.

Then, unexpectedly, he asked me if he had paid me for the last tuning. I
said that, no, he hadn't and, without hesitation, he pulled a $100 bill
from his pocket and gave it to me.

At that moment, the owner of the restaurant came over to us to say that
our table was ready. 

It's moments like these that I think about judgement and the power of
forgiveness. 

Thanks for listening.

Tom
-- 

"Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to
die."

Thomas A. Cole, RPT
Santa Cruz, CA
mailto:tcole@cruzio.com