(Photos from the web not related to the subject)
One of my many 
jobs was working for a friend at a service station at an interstate exit. I wasn’t there a day until I realized I was working for a crook. He treated me fair, I was working for minimum wage and happy to get the job. I watched the man cheat customer after customer.
Once I was pumping gas, and I noticed the tail light was out. I mentioned it to the driver and he said check it out. I pulled the bulb it took less than a minute. I could see the filaments were good so I cleaned the base on my jeans and put the bulb in and it came on. I charged the man for the gas and told him I had cleaned the contacts and his tail light was ok.
The owner fussed, you could have sold him a bulb and put the old one back in. I am here to make money. I told him the man did not need a new bulb and it had cost nothing to fix it.
I joined the Navy and was in Great Lakes and Sherry was going to drive up for a week end. I asked her to take it to my former boss and make sure the car was in good shape. He sold her 4 tires, and several other things. I knew they were not needed. I thought at least he would not cheat my family, but he did. He was an equal opportunity crook. He failed in every business he tried.
Knowing that, I have always been leery on the interstate. Once Sherry and I were towing a trailer to visit Key West, where I was to be stationed. On the interstate the car started acting up, losing power. I stopped at a service station and the owner said he couldn’t fix it but a guy at the next exit could. I pulled in (knowing what I knew) the mechanic listened to my story. picked up a couple things and started to the car. “Hey man, what is this going to cost?”
“Not much,” and he just ignored me. He got under the hood played around a little with the gas lines and said “Now try it.” It started and idled well.
“You won’t have any more problems with that,come on inside.”
He charged me about $3. “It was just the fuel filter, I put you a new one on.” The car ran perfect from then on. It renewed my faith in people.
Another time while stationed in Missouri, I was told I needed a new engine. Sherry was taking piano lessons at the time, and the teacher’s husband was a mechanic. So I took my shaking, missing,backfiring Rambler to his small shop. I told him what the Rambler Dealership had said. He was under the hood. “Hand me the 3/8 wrench off the bench!”
In less that 10 seconds the engine smoothed out. “It was just a couple loose intake manifold bolts, it’s okay now. No charge.” I gave him $10 he had just saved me $800.00.
Everyone is not a con-man, there are some nice folks in this world…
Nite Shipslog
PS:
It is like a breath of fresh air to be treated fairly.
<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>
In the 1940’s someone decided an upside down Bathtub design was great.
Another upside down Bathtub. 1947 Packard
The convertible Bathtub. 1948
+018.jpg)
+040aa_edited-1.jpg)
11 comments:
There are some very wonderful people on this Earth, Jack. I learned that from the first man I ever loved: My Daddy. He has always inspired me to treat others with honesty and integrity.
I am so happy that you have found that there are still people with those traits. May they long endure.
You possess them, and I am so glad to call you my friend....
Isn't it sad when society's almost conditioned us to expect the worst of our fellow man? (Well, that and the media ... guess good news doesn't sell as many papers.)
Thanks for the reminder that GOOD folks do exist!
My daughter got taken by some bum mechanics who told her they were going to winterize her car. They ended up ruining the battery and spark plugs.
It Is strange that we expect to be
taken when we need a job done. I want to trust but we just need to be careful..I do trust most people. I don't know how people live with them self and be dishonest.
It is interesting with your "crook" boss that all of his businesses failed. You'd think he would have maybe evaluated some of his business practices. It is always good to find an honest mechanic, especially out on the road. I know taking the car to get the oil changed there will be places where they will always want to up sell something else that they think the car needs.
betty
PS: Wait until Louis la Vache
looks at that Packard.
Errrrrrrrrr that makes me mad. How do you find people like you who are honest - they are far and few between!
So many time when Mel went out on a service call for the oompany he worked for, for many years he would move the heavy equipment out from the wall and it had become disconnected from the electrical outlet. He would plug it in and everything worked fine. He hated having to charge them for a service call. He had to because he drove out in a company truck and was on the time clock. He would stress to them to always check the outlet before calling in.
«Louis» has similar tales he can tell you about various contractors he talked to about building out the espresso shop he owned a few years back. Ditto when he remodeled the condo he had before he moved to France. As he wrote the other day, he HAS found an honest mechanic for the Vachemobile...
«Louis» likes that '47 Packard (and the late '41, the '42 and the '46, all built on the same body) MUCH better than he likes the '48 - '50 Packards. Calling them an upside down bathtub is an insult to all the other upside down bathtubs out there! :-)
It is a breath of fresh air when we find an honest person. It is refreshing and revives my hope in mankind,
I hate being ripped off and I usually don't know it until it is to late. Joe is pretty good at keeping ours running but it sounds rough sometimes more than ever.
Post a Comment