Today’s blog
Lynn Murphy Mark
The service industry
The big project in our condo is done! There is a whole new look to our domicile, one that makes it much lighter and appear a little bigger. Now comes the work of unpacking boxes to restore some sort of order. This gives us an opportunity to go through all the stuff that has been lounging in closets and the pantry, some of which has not seen the light of day for almost five years.
This blog is not as much about our new floor as it is about the young men who installed it. They absolutely rendered us a huge service. I don’t usually think of flooring installers when I think of the service industry, but the three men who were here for two whole days went above and beyond to be helpful to us two senior citizens.
On Wednesday morning two men arrived on the stroke of 8 AM as had been promised. They came in with smiles and polite greetings and before long we were bantering back and forth about how they approach their work. One man said he grew up thinking he would be a fire fighter. However, flooring work is in his family, back to his grandfather who was an installer in the middle of the last century. He got to be a little bit of a fire fighter as he volunteered when he was younger. But flooring was a family tradition, so here he was, ready to perform his magic.
Another man was driving up from Sullivan and came in a few minutes late. But as soon as he arrived they huddled around the floor plan and decided where to start laying the planks. After that they walked around our place, admiring the loft look and talking shop about how to install the quarter round. Before long, they had their tools together – including a little table saw, sanders, wood cutters and tools that I did not recognize. One of the most important belongings are their knee protectors, costing each man a mere $300 but worth every penny to save their young knees.
They started unpacking boxes of planks and quarter round, anxious to get started. But first they asked about our routines, wanting to conform to what we needed. They found out that Jan had a big dental procedure scheduled yesterday, so they modified their plan and decided to do the bedroom first so she could rest in bed after having a big old tooth carved out of her jaw.
They were appreciative of the work that we had done to get ready for them. Apparently most people don’t follow directions as well as we did, but because we did, the work was guaranteed to go faster. They also assured us that when they got to the kitchen they would move the appliances and install flooring under them. When that happened, they took the time to set everything back and balance each appliance on its new floor. I was worried about moving a big refrigerator, a gas stove, and a noisy dishwasher, but for them it was all in a day’s work.
Jan spent more time with them than I did because I was gone to meetings and a day at work. She found out that one of the guys was married to a woman who is bingeing the same Netflix series that we are hooked on. One guy has five kids, and they had a discussion about the Republican House of Representatives and their efforts to put further limits on a woman’s choice. Despite admitting to being conservative on a lot of things, he believes a woman’s body is her own and choices about it do not belong in politics.
As they were finishing up yesterday afternoon I asked for their names so we can write a positive google review about them and about the company they work for. They were busy cleaning up after themselves, and packing up their tools, and getting rid of the trash they generated. I think it pleased them to see how happy we are with their professional work and work ethic. In fact, one of them said that he gets his reward by watching people admire the end result. All three men showed pride in the job they had done. To me, that is the definition of service.