To all my brothers and sisters in piano work: >One of the downsides of self-employment is the exposure we have to >catastrophic events. Although some of us are employed by institutions or > dealerships, most of us go it alone, and if something happens, we deal >with it in the best way we can scrape together, for better or for worse. >Few of us have the resources to survive comfortably through any extended >period of unemployment, whether as a result of health issues, >macro-economic stresses, or sudden traumas. We just keep on plugging, >with our fingers crossed, and if we're fortunate, our spouse or partner >will help pull us through in a time of need. If we're the sole support, >we're in real trouble. >John Granholm will not be able to work for a good while. I don't have >any idea what his financial situation is, but presumably, if he didn't >need to be working, like most of us do, he would be fishing or golfing >or otherwise relaxing. In other words, he is suddenly facing, among >daunting physical difficulties, the prospect of no income, when just >last week, the assumption was he would be working for a living. >Having been in similar straits once, though not nearly so severe, I well >remember the deep gratitude I felt for my fellow piano technicians who >helped me get through in my time of need. Members of my chapter of PTG >tuned pianos for me, and gave me the checks. I choke up right now just >remembering those acts of love and support. Nothing has ever meant more >to me. >So here's what I'm going to do: I will tune one piano a month for John >Granholm and send him the check, until he's able to return to work. This >is one way I can express my gratitude for PTG; for the generosity of its >members, my brothers and sisters, toward their fellows; and to John for >his contributions to our world. I want to ease his mind during his >recovery. I hope you will join me. >-Mark Schecter, RPT >San Francisco Chapter since 1979 To all: Earlier this winter, I slipped on the ice here in Iowa, fell on my tuning case and cracked a rib. For 6 weeks I could do very little work, and with next to no income coming in, I was amazed at how quickly bills began to pile up. When I first learned of John's situation, besides thinking about the horror of the pain involved (it makes my cracked rib seem like a broken fingernail), I thought over and over that if I were in a similar situation, that I would truly be up a creek without a paddle. Since retiring from teaching 3 years ago, and going full time into piano work, I have not been able to secure disability insurance. I would be quickly drowning in bills, with no way out. I shudder to think about being in this situation. Well, John may be up a creek right now, unable to work for the foreseeable future, but we can make damn sure he has a paddle to work with, at least financially. I think Mark's idea is just outstanding, and I would be proud to represent Iowa in this effort. If at least one technician from every state participated, we could go a long ways towards at least seeing that John doesn't have to worry about whether the bills will be paid or not. He'll have plenty of other issues to deal with without having to lose sleep over money. This being the first of May, I'll take one tuning from May, have the customer make the check out to John, send it to him and continue to do so until he is back on his feet again and able to work. What other technicians would like to represent their state? We have one from California, and one from Iowa to start this off. I'll make sure this is reposted on at least a weekly basis to see where we stand. Let's do this. Chuck -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090501/b19ffd28/attachment.html>
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