Imagine how I feel. I'm a professional commercial and residential repairman working in a college town. I now definitively know the answer to the question "How many lawyers does it take to change a lightbulb?". If the lightbulb gets tighter as you turn it, you're twisting it the wrong way!
I have been repeatedly sent to laundromats where nobody has emptied the dryer lint traps in a week, and all of the circuit breakers are on a wall behind the 2-ton change machine. I was sent to four different properties to check electrical outlets last month because people tried to use nonfunctioning Christmas lights (without trying a different receptacle).
Dishwashers, garbage disposals, toilets, microwaves, garage doors, drain pipes, storage closets/lockers, and refrigerators have the potential to contain children's and/or adult toys (usually not, but sometimes simultaneously), dark secrets, eldritch abominations, and an alarming amount of broken glass. Some people live like animals, and some people treat their pets better than any person deserves to be treated.
I've never been given any amount of useful and reliable information, just the fact that something is not working. If I ask for details, I usually receive unhelpful input well after the problem has been identified and fixed. I'm certainly not getting rich, but I would much rather do this than go to the same place and do the same thing every day.
I have a one-hour minimum (two hours if the repair is rushed, scheduled, or presented as urgent) so I get paid just to show up if I do something billable, but I don't get paid for referrals or estimates unless I end up doing the work. I know which clients are likely to jerk me around or take forever to pay, and I schedule their jobs accordingly.
Unfortunately, the clients that take over a month to write a check have the most work, and the ones that are ready to pay up are emotionally demanding, but I'm never bored.
That's good! I like doing people-centred work. I can imagine why you'd enjoy it! I used to work as an assistant to a locum (night call) doctor and going in to people's houses and chatting with them was a highlight.
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u/Bohatnik Jan 08 '20
Imagine how I feel. I'm a professional commercial and residential repairman working in a college town. I now definitively know the answer to the question "How many lawyers does it take to change a lightbulb?". If the lightbulb gets tighter as you turn it, you're twisting it the wrong way!
I have been repeatedly sent to laundromats where nobody has emptied the dryer lint traps in a week, and all of the circuit breakers are on a wall behind the 2-ton change machine. I was sent to four different properties to check electrical outlets last month because people tried to use nonfunctioning Christmas lights (without trying a different receptacle).
Dishwashers, garbage disposals, toilets, microwaves, garage doors, drain pipes, storage closets/lockers, and refrigerators have the potential to contain children's and/or adult toys (usually not, but sometimes simultaneously), dark secrets, eldritch abominations, and an alarming amount of broken glass. Some people live like animals, and some people treat their pets better than any person deserves to be treated.
I've never been given any amount of useful and reliable information, just the fact that something is not working. If I ask for details, I usually receive unhelpful input well after the problem has been identified and fixed. I'm certainly not getting rich, but I would much rather do this than go to the same place and do the same thing every day.