Had a talk with an old timer yesterday that made me rethink my whole approach

I was swapping out a compressor on a 20 year old fridge in Greenville and this retired guy, must have been 70, was watching me from his porch. He came over and asked why I was in such a hurry. I told him I had 3 more calls today. He said 'You ever stop and listen to the machine before you touch it?' I just stood there for a second and realized I never do that. Now I'm wondering how many times I've missed an easy fix because I was too focused on the job list. Has anyone else had a customer or neighbor drop some advice that actually changed how you work?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_ray23d ago

Consider how many repair jobs get botched because the worker didn't take five minutes to just observe the problem first. That old timer's point about listening before touching probably saves more time in the long run than rushing ever will. Slowing down to hear what the machine is telling you might be the simplest fix you are missing.

oscar_ellis23d ago

Is it really that big of a deal if someone skips a few seconds of listening?

reesemoore55m ago

The whole thing applies to way more than just repairs. @the_ray's spot on that slowing down to actually observe stuff is a lost art, people just default to rushing through everything these days.