Spare Me From "Perfect Pitch"!

[Patrick C. Poulson]

 I went back to check out a Wurlitzer spinet at a  school that I tuned
yesterday, the one that the music teacher said had gone totally flat in the
bottom octave.  Nothing wrong. In fact, a few of the notes had gone a little
sharp!  The teacher played a few notes and said " Can't your hear that these
bottom notes are a 1/2 step flat?" Well, actually they sounded fine to me,
but I got my Accutuner out and doublechecked them.  They were right where
they needed to be.  The music teacher claims to have perfect pitch.  I have
had experience with some people with "perfect pitch", and it seems that
sometimes their ear focuses on a harmonic that is out of tune with the rest
of the harmonics from a string, and there's nothing I can do to change short
of replacing the piano.  The music teacher was busy rehearsing her choir by
the time I finished, so I called in the prinicipal who is also a piano
player, fortunately, and explained the situation .  She seemed to understand
, and actually apologized for the music teacher's attitude and abruptness,
saying that the teacher is under a lot of pressure to get her Christmas
program together and also has been sick.  I was just glad that there was
nothing structurally wrong with the piano, or that somehow my ears had gone
totally off - admittedly, the cold I'm getting over has clogged my Eustacian
tubes up a bit, but I don't think my hearing has been affected.  
    Anybody else had a similiar experience? Thanks, Patrick Poulson, RPT