> You can get asked the question no matter how long you've been in the > business. Whether you've done something klutzy with the case parts, or > you look like you're in your nineties, it can mean different things. > Sometimes I think they're asking if you can actually make a living > tuning pianos and they might *expect* that you also have a day job. > > Confidence is important, as Dean said, so if you get asked about it > specifically, you can give an honest answer and make it sound like > you're a veteran. > > Tom Cole I think they ask because I'm obviously comfortable with the situation, can get the lid open on the first try (after the family history and botanical gardens are relocated), and have a tool case full of all sorts of mysterious implementia that I give the impression of recognizing when I open it. Carrying on a conversation, making the occasional dumb joke or literary reference, and strip muting at the same time (multitasking) gives the impression of experience too. Throw in the fact that most folks can't easily grasp the possibility that someone might actually do this for a living, as Guy indicated, and they have enough contradictory signals to fire their curiosity. Granted, it's on more of a "Is that supposed to smoke like that" sort of level than a real effort to grasp the working reality of the self employed, but at least it's an attempt to communicate with the service guy on a human level. You have to start somewhere. The discussions on subjects they can't bring up with anyone else they know tend to start on the second or third visit, usually prompted by the dumb jokes and literary references. Hey, entertainment, like gold and the remains of Jimmy Hoffa, is where you find it. Beats working for a living. Ron N
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