[pianotech] Medical costs (OT!) piano care and costs on topic

[Paul McCloud]

Joseph:
    What you fail to grasp is it's a CRISIS.  Nobody can afford a piano anymore these days.  Though it's not in the constitution (who cares for that anyway), it's the RIGHT of everyone to own a piano.  So, because not everyone can afford one, the state must provide one for anyone who wants one.  Free.  It's called "No Piano Left  Behind".  With all the discretionary spending, we should demand that this be the first bill to be passed in the new congress, lest we spend it on unnecessary things like defense.  Then, there is the critical shortage of piano tuners, which we all know is contributing to huge demand and driving up prices.  Twenty years ago, going prices were less than half current prices, so if we don't have more tuners, the price will continue to go up, so that the new piano owners won't be able to afford it.  Of course, congress must also limit the fee for tuning, to prevent possible gouging.  It could be part of the next stimulus bill, you know, the kind of shove-el ready jobs we need to get people working again.  Those greedy SOB's who make more money than I do should be taxed to pay for it.  Well, to be fair... Nah... Let's just sock it to our children and theirs.  
    What do you think?
    Paul McCloud
    San Diego


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Joseph Alkana 
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Sent: 11/03/2010 10:59:31 AM 
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Medical costs (OT!) piano care and costs on topic


So, David, Susan, et al, you would be happy making a salary dictated by Washington for your services or products and still keep up that attitude of blind commitment to your business and customer? Where would your incentive come from to try and be the best at what you do – and get what you think is just compensation for it? You’re dreaming. I also want to provide the best service and product possible so I can not only scratch that itch for personal satisfaction of a job well done and service for my customer and community, but also to blow away the competition by my continued striving for excellence for which I will charge a premium for and for which my customers will gladly pay. I have high regard for technicians who are able to work under the terms imposed by our colleges and universities. Salaried, with little hope of greater reward than the job itself. Which, while admirable in concept, doesn’t appeal to some, nor is it practical for all in the industry. And that’s OK, because it’s OK for them by choice. There is the big difference in philosophy, as the ‘private’ sector can be free, at least for now, to let the market dictate what their incomes will eventually be. Personally I cannot imagine not having the choice every working day to approach the market place with a totally free ability to earn or not earn as my God given talents and abilities allow. 
 
Yes, by all means let’s have state run factories for the production of pianos, where all workers are paid not by how they perform on the job and the quality of the merchandise created, but paid just because they are there breathing air and they darn well deserve to be paid by the rest of us to produce those tone producing pieces of furniture. And at prices dictated by the state so we’ll all have an equal chance to own a Schteinwaima model Big.
 
Let’s make sure that all the piano service people are also ‘protected’ by a minimum wage, dictated by the state, of course, so that there is no unfair competition or possibility of price gouging. If it takes you three hours to tune a piano because you want it absolutely the best it can be, which might also include some service to make it perform better but your fellow technician down the block only takes 30 minutes for all pianos he sees, never mind: You both will be paid the same. Same procedure, same pay. Can’t be any collusion either between a tech and his customer for any extras needing a little pay under the table to facilitate. Naughty. Hillary will make sure that you will be penalized for doing that.
 
Prospective piano industry workers at all levels would be given little choice in how their education is realized: Most will wait for openings as dictated by the state based on voter feedback. Not all skills will be maintained, such as chisel sharpening. Formed plastic bridges can suffice for the majority, hence the skill set required will go the way of the buggy whip. Progress. Besides, the state will recognize early on that piano service, not any rebuilding or manufacturing ideal, will be in the greatest demand. Therefore standards will be relaxed and examinations tailored to enable as many as possible into the realm of guaranteed wages.
 
Of course, no other industries would be required to adhere to these standards: A person with tremendous shop skills, such as chisel sharpening or bicycle riding would be considered prime candidates to pursue free market endeavors. (After all, those are worthy subjects to be discussed on such a forum as this one.) 
 
Before long there will be no competent technicians or piano related skill sets worth pursuing, since the compensation would all be cast in stone by the statists you continue to elect and make you feel good by the doling out of ‘free’ everything to the unqualified, unappreciative and unworthy. On the bright side, there would continue to be a demand for these piano related skills: For a while, until the mediocrity and incompetency grinds the whole industry to a halt. But you would make a lot of really mediocre people happy in the meantime because they get to draw a regular salary paid for by your wallet and mine in the name of benefiting all of piano playing mankind.
 
Yes, I want one of those mediocre, ill-trained, uninspired dupes to work on the innards of my piano. Yeah, sure, you betcha., 
 
There, at least I stayed on the topic of pianos, eh?
 
Gag. It’s time to go pay my insurance bills.
Joseph Alkana RPT (Retired)
 
 
Personally, I want a doctor (or piano technician if I were looking for one) whose attitude and commitment to what he does has him thinking more about me than himself.  
 
David Love
www.davidlovepianos.com
 
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Joseph Alkana
Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2010 11:04 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Medical costs (OT!) was:billing dilemma
 
Sorry Susan, but when I'm stretched out on the table with my heart literally in a physician's hands I want a person who has studied the most, practiced the most and who has the best record of achievement working on me. I want a person who has the biggest ego, largest demands for grandiose lfestyle - whatever - to be weilding that scalpel. If it takes huge bucks to entice such people into the rarified heights of heart surgery, then so be it! Why, I know a few technicians whose egos need to be similarly scratched to keep them in the field of piano technology. Rationing dollars to those who have a need to excell will dilute the quality of any endeavor, and definitely smacks of socialism. It's already happening, this is not new. 

Joseph
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20101103/46920866/attachment.htm>