Flakey Customer

[Richard Moody]

You were supposed to invite him to join you, he may have been wo a
reservation......and he may  have insisted his treat....or the wine at least....
Besides don't you want to know what gifts travelers to Alpha Centauri might be
bearing? 
---ric

"let me see what spring is like on Jupiter or Mars"  




  

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> From: Tom Cole <tcole@cruzio.com>
> To: pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Subject: Flakey Customer
> Date: Saturday, October 16, 1999 1:23 AM
> 
> Late Night Philosophizing
> -------------------------
> 
> It is rare that a customer will not pay me for my services.
> Years went by and he didn't call. I began to think (hope) that he had
> left the area. Tonight, as my wife and I were enduring a very long wait
> at a popular restaurant, much longer than anticipated, I noticed that
> ol' Vic had entered the waiting area. Too grouchy from hunger and a long
> day to be glad-handed by a non-paying customer, I prayed that he might
> choose not to recognize me to avoid a confrontation.
> 
> Not so. He came right over and struck up a lively conversation: trekking
> in Nepal, visited friends in Australia, went to New Zealand, Bali, Alpha
> Centauri... It was difficult to feign interest.
> 
> Then, unexpectedly, he asked me if he had paid me for the last tuning. I
> said that, no, he hadn't and, without hesitation, he pulled a $100 bill
> from his pocket and gave it to me.
> 
> At that moment, the owner of the restaurant came over to us to say that
> our table was ready. 
> 
> It's moments like these that I think about judgement and the power of
> forgiveness. 
> 
> Thanks for listening.
> 
> Tom