My Customers (Part 2)
I was amazed by the positive response about last week’s stories about my customers. So I thought that this week I will narrate two or three other such experiences of several, which I had when I did woodworking as a part time job.
The first two stories are more or less similar and they are the cause of a “disorder’ or call it what you want, in my character. Now you surely want to know what this ‘disorder’ is. Of course I will tell you but I can’t find the exact word. In my language we have the exact word to describe it which for those many Maltese migrants who follow my blog is ‘nitqazzez.’ For those who are not Maltese, let me describe my ‘disorder’ or ‘obsession’ in a few sentences. (On my part I do not consider this neither as an obsession nor a disorder because many people feel the same but I can’t think of the proper word).
For example I do not drink from the same glass used by someone else unless it is properly washed after it is used. I never go in a bar and buy something to eat such as a sandwich or a bun because they are handled by persons who may not have clean hands. I buy biscuits or a bar of chocolate which are packed and sealed. In a bar I have drinks but I drink from the bottle with a straw not from a glass. I think you now understand what my ‘obsession’ is. So we may proceed to the first story.
I was amazed by the positive response about last week’s stories about my customers. So I thought that this week I will narrate two or three other such experiences of several, which I had when I did woodworking as a part time job.
The first two stories are more or less similar and they are the cause of a “disorder’ or call it what you want, in my character. Now you surely want to know what this ‘disorder’ is. Of course I will tell you but I can’t find the exact word. In my language we have the exact word to describe it which for those many Maltese migrants who follow my blog is ‘nitqazzez.’ For those who are not Maltese, let me describe my ‘disorder’ or ‘obsession’ in a few sentences. (On my part I do not consider this neither as an obsession nor a disorder because many people feel the same but I can’t think of the proper word).
For example I do not drink from the same glass used by someone else unless it is properly washed after it is used. I never go in a bar and buy something to eat such as a sandwich or a bun because they are handled by persons who may not have clean hands. I buy biscuits or a bar of chocolate which are packed and sealed. In a bar I have drinks but I drink from the bottle with a straw not from a glass. I think you now understand what my ‘obsession’ is. So we may proceed to the first story.
Story # 1
When my wife and I used to go to the prayer meetings, several people knew that I was a good woodworker and I worked for several of them. There was this particular fat old lady who lived all by herself and once she asked me if I could repair several things in her house…..some kitchen cupboard doors which had broken hinges, a couple of chairs which were falling to pieces………………..etc. I really hated to do this type of work but in this circumstance I could not refuse.
So I took some tools and off I went to this lady’s house. She showed me around and told me what I had to do. I set to work but I couldn’t help notice the dust on the furniture, cob-webs in all corners and everywhere I touched, even the floor, was sort of sticky. Besides, there was an unhealthy, unpleasant smell. I did not like it at all but I had to do the work. I started from the kitchen doors. She sat down on a chair and watched me work which again I did not like it at all either. After about an hour she stood up, went to her cooker and put a kettle on the burner. My instinct told me that something worse which I didn’t like at all was about to happen. And it did. She prepared two big glasses of tea and with a smile she came over and told me, “Have a short rest and take a glass of good hot tea.” I surely did not like it a bit but had to take the glass in my hand and I put it on the cupboard and said to her, “Let it cool down a little and then I will take it.” Fortunately she left the room and in a jiffy I took hold of the glass and emptied in the kitchen sink.” One minute later she came in again and approached the cupboard to fetch something. She looked at the glass and said, “Oh you already took it, so it wasn’t that hot after all. You must be very thirst…..Let me make another one!!!”
And so she did but again I did the same because I did not like it a bit!
When my wife and I used to go to the prayer meetings, several people knew that I was a good woodworker and I worked for several of them. There was this particular fat old lady who lived all by herself and once she asked me if I could repair several things in her house…..some kitchen cupboard doors which had broken hinges, a couple of chairs which were falling to pieces………………..etc. I really hated to do this type of work but in this circumstance I could not refuse.
So I took some tools and off I went to this lady’s house. She showed me around and told me what I had to do. I set to work but I couldn’t help notice the dust on the furniture, cob-webs in all corners and everywhere I touched, even the floor, was sort of sticky. Besides, there was an unhealthy, unpleasant smell. I did not like it at all but I had to do the work. I started from the kitchen doors. She sat down on a chair and watched me work which again I did not like it at all either. After about an hour she stood up, went to her cooker and put a kettle on the burner. My instinct told me that something worse which I didn’t like at all was about to happen. And it did. She prepared two big glasses of tea and with a smile she came over and told me, “Have a short rest and take a glass of good hot tea.” I surely did not like it a bit but had to take the glass in my hand and I put it on the cupboard and said to her, “Let it cool down a little and then I will take it.” Fortunately she left the room and in a jiffy I took hold of the glass and emptied in the kitchen sink.” One minute later she came in again and approached the cupboard to fetch something. She looked at the glass and said, “Oh you already took it, so it wasn’t that hot after all. You must be very thirst…..Let me make another one!!!”
And so she did but again I did the same because I did not like it a bit!
Story # 2
Perhaps reading the above story, some of you will think that I am rude and ungrateful. Now let me tell you, I do not behave in this way with everyone. It happens when my instinct tells me that that person is not that hygienically clean. If I feel and see that a person is clean, I will gladly accept what he or she offers me.
The second story is about a middle aged woman who came to order some furniture for her new home in Sliema, a very nice town. She was a little bit snobbish, all painted and made up although she was not a bit lovely. I remember that I was assembling a bedroom in her new house. This house had two floors and I was working on the upper floor. It was a hot day in summer but it was rather windy. While I was doing my work she was very busy doing several things in her new house.
After a couple of hours working she entered the room in which I was working, carrying a mug. She put it on the window sill and said, “Here is something to drink because I am sure that you must be thirsty with all this heat.” I thanked her and she went away. I surely was thirsty but she was one of those who my instinct told me not to trust. I confirmed this even more because the mug was full of lemonade and I never drink lemonade from a mug and besides it was chipped in two places. Although I was thirsty, I took hold of the mug and threw its content out of the window which overlooked an internal yard. The floor of the yard was covered with heaps of sand and gravel and other building material so I surely did not cause any harm.
Not a minute passed and the lady came running into the room all wet and exclaimed, “Did you throw something, look how you got me wet all over, my hair, my dress!!!!
I really was embarrassed and for a moment I wished to disappear. I had to say something and I was searching for the right words. I began, “Oh, I am really sorry but how could I have done that……. I really can’t understand…………. really I can’t …………!!!”
She seemed angry and snared, “What can‘t you understand? What did you throw from the window……… the lemonade which I gave you or what?
Then I thought of an excuse. “Oh please forgive me but I was so thirsty and as I took hold of the mug to drink the lemonade, a small lizard fell in it and I was so frustrated and angry that I emptied the mug, in the yard but before I did I was certain that there was nobody there, so I can’t understand how you got wet because I was sure that there was no one in the yard.”
“In fact I was not in the yard I was in the room below this and I was hanging the curtains of the window.” She now seemed a little less angry and she continued, “the wind must have blow the lemonade inside!!!”
“Please pardon me and let me go downstairs and wipe the floor,” and with that I took a piece of cloth which I had and went downstairs. She followed me downstairs but went into the kitchen. I wiped the floor and when I finished and stood up, I saw her beside me with a bottle of lemonade. I again, said to her, “I really am embarrassed, please accept my apologies.”
She handed me the open bottle and told me, “It’s OK, after all it was an accident. Here is another bottle of lemonade………. go and drink it to quench or thirst.” I went upstairs and this time I drank the lemonade, not from the mug but from the bottle after wiping well its neck!
Story # 3
The next story is totally different. Again the customer was one of my ex-students whom I used to teach more than fifteen years before. This was a fine lad in his middle twenties. He was tall, smart and he wore a suit complete with tie. He told me that now he was a successful architect and that he studied abroad. He added that he had already several years of work experience abroad but decided to establish himself in Malta. I congratulated him and told him that I was proud of him……..this time I was saying it because I really meant it not sarcastically as in last week’s story about the Gorilla.
He told me that he rented a large basement to use as his office. He wanted me to make all the doors, and furniture which included two desks with drawers, filing cabinets, shelving, two kitchenettes and wooden skirting all around. I went with him to measure and see the place. It was in Sliema too, in a main road facing the sea. We went down half a dozen steps because it was a few feet below the level of the street but it was quite airy and pleasant to work in.
In time I sent him my quotation which he agreed to and he gave me a deposit. After a couple of months everything was ready and fixed in place. He seemed happy and in fact he paid me there and then.
Several months later, he came again to my workshop. He looked worried and in a few words he told me that all the work I did for him was all ruined. My first reaction was that he was sort of accusing me that I did not do my work properly. But thank God it was nothing of the kind. He said that the recent storm flooded his office and as he was abroad, he only discovered this after about two weeks. There were more than two feet of water so one can imagine the damage to all those wooden things I so diligently had made for him.
Then he asked me to write a quotation of the damage for insurance purposes. I just took out my file and found a copy of the estimation I had given him and handed it to him. Then he looked at it and said, “Would you be so kind and write another quotation and this time, please double the prices of everything.” I was a little surprised but I did what he told me, I signed it and gave it to him.
Of course I knew what his game was but I said nothing, hoping that if he got what he was asking for, he would be generous to me. Some weeks later he phoned me and he told me that he had found a new office furnished with all the furniture he needed. He added that he got all the money he asked for from the insurance. That was all he said.
At least from this story I learned a lesson. This is the case where the student taught his teacher because if the insurance people agreed to the price which my customer asked for the woodwork I did, it meant that I was charging a very low price. So from that day I dared to charge more for the work.
Quote of the day:
All people smile in the same language.
The next story is totally different. Again the customer was one of my ex-students whom I used to teach more than fifteen years before. This was a fine lad in his middle twenties. He was tall, smart and he wore a suit complete with tie. He told me that now he was a successful architect and that he studied abroad. He added that he had already several years of work experience abroad but decided to establish himself in Malta. I congratulated him and told him that I was proud of him……..this time I was saying it because I really meant it not sarcastically as in last week’s story about the Gorilla.
He told me that he rented a large basement to use as his office. He wanted me to make all the doors, and furniture which included two desks with drawers, filing cabinets, shelving, two kitchenettes and wooden skirting all around. I went with him to measure and see the place. It was in Sliema too, in a main road facing the sea. We went down half a dozen steps because it was a few feet below the level of the street but it was quite airy and pleasant to work in.
In time I sent him my quotation which he agreed to and he gave me a deposit. After a couple of months everything was ready and fixed in place. He seemed happy and in fact he paid me there and then.
Several months later, he came again to my workshop. He looked worried and in a few words he told me that all the work I did for him was all ruined. My first reaction was that he was sort of accusing me that I did not do my work properly. But thank God it was nothing of the kind. He said that the recent storm flooded his office and as he was abroad, he only discovered this after about two weeks. There were more than two feet of water so one can imagine the damage to all those wooden things I so diligently had made for him.
Then he asked me to write a quotation of the damage for insurance purposes. I just took out my file and found a copy of the estimation I had given him and handed it to him. Then he looked at it and said, “Would you be so kind and write another quotation and this time, please double the prices of everything.” I was a little surprised but I did what he told me, I signed it and gave it to him.
Of course I knew what his game was but I said nothing, hoping that if he got what he was asking for, he would be generous to me. Some weeks later he phoned me and he told me that he had found a new office furnished with all the furniture he needed. He added that he got all the money he asked for from the insurance. That was all he said.
At least from this story I learned a lesson. This is the case where the student taught his teacher because if the insurance people agreed to the price which my customer asked for the woodwork I did, it meant that I was charging a very low price. So from that day I dared to charge more for the work.
Quote of the day:
All people smile in the same language.