Veteran’s Day Offer

No one took us up on our Veteran’s day offer. So one of my customer’s for many years, Mr. Bradley needed a septic inspection. A little history on Mr. Bradley. He is a World War II Veteran. Senior citizen. He is 83 years old and full of life.

His Uncle used to work in the Septic field many many years ago.
Every time I service his place, I put aside another hour just to talk. Hear old time war stories, and his adventures.

Yesterday, I spent about 2 hours at his place. The inspection only took about 20 minutes, but I am always impressed that guys like him actually existed in real life. A True Time War Hero.
So it was time for me to get to my next job. I told him that I was looking for one Senior Veteran to give my services too, and no one ever claimed it. And since he was my customer for years, I was performing the entire service for free. I would pay taxes, filing fees, and county fees.

Now this is where things didn’t go as planned. He absolutely refused. He was very persistant. I tried to drive off, but he would not allow me to leave. He thanked me for what I was trying to do, but he knew that the truck is expensive to run. 3.5 mpg usually means about 30-60 in fuel per job. He said that’s how I put food on my table, and keep a roof over my head. So I asked him if he’d be happy if he’d meet me in the middle. And this made him happy. I thanked him for his service, and my freedom. We both parted ways, and I will see him again next year.

And this incident really got me to thinking. How things are different in two generations. I mean think about it. I have offered my services for free before. I don’t do it often because I would go bankrupt fast.

And in the other few cases. The homeowners were more than happy to accept my free work, and having my company cover all costs involved. I have no regrets either. But in his eyes, that was unacceptable. I think I may be a bit like Mr. Bradley.

I have had people offer to do things for free for me. Like when my pump went out on my vacuum truck, a close friend replaced a coupler for me. And when it came time for the bill he just told me, no don’t worry about it. I simply told him that he is a super nice guy, but his shop won’t survive giving away his work. Niceness doesn’t pay the light bill and the lease on the shop. And I paid him anyways, and I am sure I paid him more than what the bill would have been. But it’s the way I am .

It just goes to show why I really love my job, I have the greatest clients. And I look forward to talking to each and every one of them.

I’m going to disappear on my motorcycle today. I will be back on tuesday evening. Have a great weekend and enjoy the weather.

Thanks for reading,

Ronnie