Have you ever seen a movie like What About Bob? Ya know, the kind of movie where you laugh, but tell yourself that people like him don’t exist in real life. Guess what… they do.
I make teeth for my day job. If you need some veneers, I’m your man. If you need a porcelain crown, I’m your man. Lots of the things that you think your dentist makes for your mouth after you leave his office, that’s actually someone like me making it. One thing I make are gold crowns.
“What’s your normal turnaround time for a gold crown?” Dr. Albright asked me over the phone.
“Two weeks,” I answered him.
“What about one day? Can you do it in one day?” He wondered.
“If I have enough time to plan for it,” I supposed, “but it would definitely cost you extra.”
“How about today, then?” he wanted to know.
“It’s Friday,” I informed him. “I don’t usually work late on Friday evenings. I do have plans.”
I wanted to win this guy’s business. I wanted to get into his good books because every dentist that I can add to my clientele is a pretty big deal for my little business. I had softball practice with the guys that night, though. So what do I do? Call the guys and tell them to practice without me?
“I’m almost off work now,” I said. “When do you need it back?”
“Patient is coming back in at 10 in the morning,” he told me.
Great. Just great. I wanted to win him over, but I wasn’t even going to be able to start making the gold crown until after I was planning to call it quits for the weekend.
“Tell ya what,” he informed me. “You go to your softball game and I’ll just come to your lab and do it myself.”
“My lab is in my home, though,” I said.
“Okay…” he didn’t see the problem.
“So, I don’t usually leave other people alone in my home to work in my lab without me there,” I said. “I’m not comfortable with that.”
“It’s not like I’m going to hurt your equipment,” he said.
“I’ll just stay home,” I gave in. “But you owe me. You gotta start sending me more of your business.”
I guess it came down to where my priorities are- building the business to support my family? Or taking some batting practice with the guys out on the softball field? Okay, the truth is, that’s what I wish my noble reason for giving in was. The real reason I gave in was because I’m an incredible sissy and I had a hard time saying no to someone who I wanted to impress, especially when he was as pushy as this guy.
“I’ll just hang out with you while you do it, okay?” Doc said.
“No, that’s all right,” I cringed. “I work faster when I’m alone.”
“Oh, I won’t get in your way,” he assured me. “Don’t worry.”
I called up the guys and told them I wasn’t going to make it to softball practice. My wife, Jammie, already didn’t like the idea of him coming over, and she soon found out that it was much worse than she even expected. It was more of a nightmare than even I thought it would be. Some relationships are just not worth it, even if it can mean more money in your pocket.
To be continued…
I hate it when stories are left like that. I always have to resolve the little situations before I can put a book down for the night. This one's gonna drive me crazy. I don't think I should have read this first one until you had at least two of them posted.
ReplyDelete