The old lady who wanted her fireplace swept one last time

Back in 2016 I had a call out in a older neighborhood outside Denver, this woman in her 80s asked me to sweep a hearth that hadn't been used in years. She stood there the whole time telling me stories about her husband lighting fires on Christmas mornings, and then she handed me a $50 tip on top of the $120 job. I thought it was just a routine visit, but she said 'you're the last one to see it burn, so make it count.' Never heard from her again, but I still think about that when I'm up on someone's roof. Anyone else get a customer like that who sticks with you for no real reason?

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abbyg1420d ago

Wait, you actually got the whole story and a tip like that and never followed up to see what happened? That's the kind of thing that would've eaten at me for weeks. I used to think this job was just about the work, you know, show up, do the sweep, get paid, move on. But reading your post kinda flipped that for me. It's those little moments where somebody lets you into their life for a minute, even when it's just about a fireplace, that end up meaning more than the actual task. Your story made me realize I've probably brushed past a dozen of those chances myself, just because I was focused on the next roof or the next customer. Now I think I'm gonna start paying more attention to the people behind the request, because clearly that's where the real stuff lives.