Has THIS ever happened to you?

[David Nereson]

I replaced a flimsy Baldwin bench bottom (what OTHER kind of
bench bottoms exist?) with a solid board from Home Depot, about
the 20th time I've done such a job. The lady was very impressed,
and brings me her kitchen cabinet drawer which was falling apart
because the sides were STAPLED into place instead of screwed
into place. She asked me if I could fix it too. I told her that
woodwork was not my trade, but I would do it as a favor to her
for a service charge.She agreed, and paid me on the spot even
before I took it back to my shop. How many times have YOU been
asked to do a carpentry or woodworking job? I felt funny doing
non-piano work for money, as this compromises my professionalism
and pride in my craft -- I feel like a jack-of-all-trades, which
is definitely something I DO NOT want to be viewed as.

Jesse Gitnik  NYC
In it since 1980

            I had a lady ask me to help her move a bunch of
furniture around AND flip the heavy mattress on her queen-size
bed, which annoyed me considerably, but since she owned three
pianos and had me tune them all, I obliged.  Besides, she was
the type who I knew would become irate and never have me tune
again if I refused.  She's also got a few screws loose - a local
"character" - and I figured, enhh, it's just this once . . . .
            But yes, I've had customers ask me if I can also fix
this or that.  I usually tell them I'll come back another day
with my handyman hat on and different clothes.
            Then there's the fairly frequent question of whether
or not I work on organs.  I'm not an organ technician, so if it'
s a pipe organ, I decline, but in homes it's usually an electric
organ and I have studied a lot of electronics and can usually
figure out what's wrong.  If I can't, I give them the number of
an organ technician.
            --David Nereson, RPT




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