Chris and I had been working for a dear old gentleman called Stan. He was in his early 90s and was very pleasant and loved our company, which he had for several days while we decorated his kitchen and hall. It was a complete paint and wall papering job and I hope it brightened up his life.
I remember Stan well because he loved discussing theology, which is an interest of mine, and although he went to church regularly he had difficulty fully believing the whole New Testament, let alone the Old Testament. He was searching for proof in secular fields and said he would be a full believer if he could find irrefutable evidence. I don't envy his job because I suspect none exist outside The Bible. As I write this short story, I do hope Stan found the answer to his doubts. Anyway, we completed the job, he was satisfied, and it was time for payment.
Chris and I were particularly lucky because in the 15 years we worked together we never once had a problem with a payment - they all paid 'on the nail', even the lottery winners. We presented the invoice to Stan and the amount was for £813. He pulled out his chequebook and wrote a cheque and, bless his heart, the amount was £8.13 LOL. We pointed out that although we were highly competitive we would soon starve. He roared with laughter when he saw his mistake and promptly wrote another cheque, this time for £8,130. Goodness!! our boat had really come in!!! We laughed and laughed and pointed out that this was extremely generous of him but we did not intend buting a villa in the Maldives this year or purchase a cabin cruiser. He roared with laughter again when we pointed out his mistake and promptly wrote out another cheque for £813 and handed it to us.
"Thank you, Stan", we said, "but hang on a minute, there is another mistake!" By now tears of laughter were rolling down our faces because we discovered he dated it with last year's date. "Oh! Lawdy me!" - poor chap!
He handed over the book and asked Chris to write it. With the correct amount and date we thanked him and bade him goodbye. And that was the last I saw of him but I heard six months later he had died.
We got quite close to several of our elderly customers and we were always sad when they departed, but I shall always remember Stan for his discussions and his cheques.
that poor man! lol
ReplyDeleteOh, that is such a cute story! Yes, I hope Stan found his answers. And I have no doubt that he enjoyed his fresh kitchen and hallway, too.
ReplyDeleteI work part time for an auctioneer and several of our older customers ask us to make out their checks for them when they come to settle their bill. I'm always happy to do it...saves time in the long run! haha.
What a charming story Eddie! Though the ending was sad...what funny people you've met doing decorating work - those lottery winners were really something!
ReplyDeleteI do hope that Stan found the answers to the theology questions he had. So sad to hear that he passed away. You have some unique and very clever stories to share from your work experience(s).
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy reading the stories from my friend, the Ambulance Man aka Eddie.
Take care of you.
Smiles,
Jackie
He sounds like he was a very nice person. I am glad you could make him laugh : ). I hope he found the answers to his questions before he passed on. : )
ReplyDeletePoor bugger.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely story, Eddie, and such a great memory to have of a gentleman who made you laugh. My husband doesn't like writing out cheques and when he goes to the mart to buy sheep, he gets on of the assistants to write it for him. Suffice to say, I do all the farm accounts, LOL.
ReplyDeleteCJ xx
I thought you were going to say that he died before you were paid. Always a problem when you start off a job for a person of a great age old age.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely tale and very funny about the cheques. He must have got through quite a few if that was a regular happening.
Maggie X
Nuts in May
Lovely story.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed your piece on the lottery winners as well. You tell a good tale!
Pearl
I could completely see myself doing that with checks.
ReplyDeleteFunny story about the checks and Stan reminds me of my 90 year old Dad. LOL Only the recipient of his wrong checks didn't bother to point it out to him. LOL
ReplyDeleteoh goodness, what could have been embarrassing sounds like it was all handled with good humor and a light touch. great to have such a nice relationship with a faithful customer.
ReplyDeletethanks for stopping by my place earlier and for the suggestion about how to handle the sneezed chips and salsa....golly, where were ya when i needed ya? ;) anyway, nice to meet you eddie :)
Hi Eddie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by :)! I am afraid I am often like Stan, a bit empty headed at moments!
This is a man I would have liked immensely! RIP, Stan...
ReplyDeletexoxoxo, cd
Over here we would line through the incorrect date and put the correct date and initial the change.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about your experience with Stan. He sounds like a good guy. My mother recently turned 90 and her mind is sharp as ever.
Laughing! :-D
ReplyDeleteWhen my brother had surgery, he pulls out all this bills and starts paying them. I, who was there helping him during his recovery, said, "Um, should you be doing that now?" because he was all loopy from meds. He said, "I am fine...*drool*"
So, he makes out a check to one of his bills that was for $100 for $10,000 *laughing* ... of course I pointed it out and he just laughed ... I finally convinced him to put away the bills, they could wait, or I'd do them for him later. teeheehee
I've been enjoying catching up on your posts. It was a good thing he had you carrying out work for him or he could have got into a lot of trouble if other people had walked off with the second cheque. I have really enjoyed this series of posts, thank you :-)
ReplyDelete