the kid was me !

[Les Smith]

Thanks for writing, Don. While I couldn't remember the exact source of
the story, I remember almost falling out of my seat the first time I
heard it. And it still brings a smile to my face. In the future I'll
see that you get proper credit. And some people think I make this stuff
up as I go along! :)

Les

On Tue, 25 Mar 1997, Don Rose wrote:

> Hi Les:
>
> The kid was me! And the piano was a Henry Herbert blonde oak 40" console. I
> eventually became a piano tuner and the dip was 1/4 rather than 3/8.
>
> At 10:16 PM 3/24/97 -0500, you wrote:
> >Greetings, all!
> >
> >It probably comes as no surprise that I have a short, true story to tell
> >for the benefit off all who offer a vacuuming of the interior of the piano
> >as part of a normal service call. The story came to me from an adult who
> >was recollecting a personal experience from his youth. Here goes.
> >
> >When "Jim" was about eight years old and taking piano lessons, his mother
> >always had the piano tuned by the same gentleman, apparently because every
> >time he tuned the instrument, it took it apart and vacuumed it thoroughly.
> >By thoroughly, Jim said, that on their old upright, the tuner would re-
> >move the front , the fall board, AND ALL THE KEYS and then proceed to
> >vacuum out the dirt under the keys. All this technical stuff apparently
> >really impressed Jim's mother. Anyway, one day after removing the keys,
> >and having just started to vacuum out the dirt, the tuner had to use the
> >bathroom. As he left to use the facilities, he handed Jim the vacuum and
> >asked him to finish up. Jim was determined to do a good job, so, as he
> >relates it, he vacuumed up not only all the dirt, but all the felt and
> >paper washers around the key pins as well. When the tuner came back and
> >saw what jim had done he slapped him across the face and took care of the
> >situation as follows: He put all the keys back into the piano, without re-
> >placing a single one of missing regulating felt/paper washers, somehow
> >managed to tune the piano in record time, took his tuning fee and left.
> >Jim said that in response to subsequent phone calls, the tuner refused
> >to ever return again. The moral of the story is WATCH OUT FOR LITTLE KIDS!
> >
> >Les Smith
> >lessmith@buffnet.net
> Regards,
> Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.M.T., R.P.T.
> "Tuner for the Centre of the Arts"
> drose@dlcwest.com
> 3004 Grant Rd.
> REGINA, SK
> S4S 5G7
> 306-352-3620 or 1-888-29t-uner
>
>