Pride in Workmanship
Read more articles on Life's Nuances and Let Me Share With You.February 4, 2008
Posted by Karen Amato Schwartz
February 4, 2008
Posted by Karen Amato Schwartz
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The other day, I had to have a plumber to my house to fix my kitchen faucet. It wasn’t the first time that I’ve noticed an extreme sense of pride in workmanship from some of the independent contractors who’ve come to my home for various reasons.
My noting this is not due to surprise, but in bemusement regarding their slice of the pie, so to speak.
No matter if they’ve been in to install or repair my furnace, drywall, flooring, carpet or appliance, it seems that the company representative loves to talk, especially about how their company is the best. I’m truly impressed by their pride. So often in my last corporate position, all I ever heard were grumblings about how awful the company was. (By the way, it wasn’t.) You have to hand it these guys (they’ve all been men) because they do focus on their specialty-unfortunately, they think that everyone else does as well. This gentleman asked if I had my original information from my faucets, and after a search proved fruitless, asked me to go to the supplier online, just so he could show me, first hand, the schematic of how the pieces all fit together-now that’s going the extra step.
Now, sometimes their enthusiasm makes me feel just a bit unappreciative of the distinction of their product. I can understand how spending 20 years on learning the finer points of anything can tend to skew a priority that way, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m truly glad that I’ve had such positive experiences with positive people; I know that it can be a lot worse.
But think about this the next time a repairman comes to your house, and spend some time listening-you’ll learn a lot, not only about his expertise, but, hopefully, about a pride of workmanship as well.
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