Slippers

[Kenneth W. Burton]

	This problem is particularly bad in Canada. Here it is not only
the Asian families who removed their shoes in the house but almost all our
Canadian families.
	I never sit down to tune a piano, so I buy shoes with good support
for my feet and I don't want to take them off.
	So, my solution, believe it or not, is to wear "step in" toe
rubbers when I go tuning. When I remove these at the door, the people are
usually satisfied and I can continue to tune in my shoes.

	Ken Burton, "Doctor Piano", Calgary Alberta

On Thu, 15 Aug 1996, Mark Graham wrote:

> I also tune for quite a few Asian families (in Cleveland OH) and after
> being greeted at the door with someone giving me size 6 slippers to wear,
> I started carrying my own -- I'm size 13. I don't always put them on,
> because some families are quite Americanized, but usually the customer
> appreciates the gesture. Eventually I started taking them to every call
> during the winter, leaving boots at the door, and I actually have gotten
> referrals because of the habit.
>
> A few years ago I was tuning for a woman I knew who had just moved to a
> newly-built home. There was no lawn and it was quite muddy. I was careful
> where I stepped going in, and it turned out the piano was across a wide
> expanse of white carpet. With the customer watching, I again checked the
> soles of my shoes, which were very clean, and then walked over to the
> piano and started working. She seemed happy.
>
> A telephone man came in about 20 minutes later. He started taking his
> boots off. The woman said, oh don't bother. He said, I'd feel better if I
> did, and proceeded to take them off. She said, well, it didn't bother
> bigfoot over there, and jerked a thumb in my direction.
>
> You can imagine how I felt. I kept tuning, and another 20 minutes or so
> later I heard a snort from the other side of the piano. There was a huge
> Old English sheepdog sleeping there. It turned out his name was Bigfoot.
>
> Mark Graham
>