My name is Greg Johnson. I'm 58 years old and a retired fireman. Put in 35 years on the rigs and retired 1 year after I was eligible. My wife didn't make it thru her second bout of breast cancer and passed away when we were 44. I haven't remarried. Our 2 daughters are successful in their fields, 1 is married with 2 of my grandkids and the other divorced with my 3
rd
grand.
Why do I bother telling you that? Well, as I tell you my story I want you to understand that I'm not cheating on my wife, I'm not breaking up any marriages. I'm just having a good time, staying busy and hopefully making others happy too.
Since retirement I found I needed something to do each day, other than watch TV. So, I started doing odd jobs for the neighbors. Some were widows who couldn't change a faucet washer, others were elderly folks that just couldn't do the heavy pruning in their yards anymore. It made me a few extra dollars, which I don't really need because my pension is adequate, but I found that if I tried to do it for free some folks pride got in the way and they wouldn't let me help them. So, I charge them a minimal fee so they feel like they're paying for what I do.
I found that I wanted to do more than just my close neighbors so I advertised my service in the local white paper. I only take jobs I want to do or occasionally when I feel the person really needs my help. And that's when I started getting paid in ways that didn't include money.
The first was a young widowed lady with 2 small girls. I don't really know why or how her husband died, but she works full time, has her kids in daycare when they aren't in school and just by looking at her house, things are tight. The house is immaculate. The floors are clean, the clothes weren't fancy but they are washed and put away, there are no dishes on the counter waiting to be cleaned. The 32" TV set in the living room is the only one in the home and it's hooked to an over the air antenna on the living room window. Everything I saw said that money was tight, but the girls were getting everything they need, there was food in the cupboards and fridge.
The problem I was called for is that the bathtub faucet had a leak behind the wall and it had been leaking for some time. The water had saturated the wood and rotted it in places. The waterproof hardboard surround around the tub was wet and warped. All told it was about a $1000 job if she hired a regular handyman. I'd normally charge $450 or so, but I knew she didn't have the money so I told Jenny that I'd see how much I could re-use and if I had used parts I'd throw those in free. I told her we would worry about my labor after it was all done. In my mind, I'd already decided I was going to throw my labor in for free. I wasn't in the business for the money and she really needed a break.
I showed up at the house at 7:30 as arranged. Jenny had arranged with her boss to work from home that day. The girls were just leaving for school as I got started opening up the wall. It was just as bad inside as I had suspected and was going to take half of the day to fix. I cut out all the bad wood, saved the pipes that were savable and determined that a valve unit I'd taken out of another house would work just fine in this one if I rebuilt it.
I told Jenny the plan, which she approved and went to the store for parts. By 1:00 I was putting the last bit of sealant around the tub which now had a new (rebuilt) valve assembly, a new shower head with a hand wand that they didn't have before. I found a damaged piece of hardboard for half price with the damage in a place that was going to be cut off anyway. All in all the repair went well and my estimate was right on.
I brought Jenny in to see the repair and she said it was amazing and it looked like new. She was likewise impressed that the materials charge was only going to be $28.00. I may have fudged that price a little, but I'm pretty sure even that was going to dent her monthly budget. I also told her that my labor today was going to be free. I gave her the short version of why I had the business and that I could see she really needed the repair.
Tears were running down her cheeks when she realized that I really didn't expect payment for my labor and that the materials were so cheap. We walked back into the kitchen where she opened he wallet and started to count out the money for the materials. She got to $26 when she started counting out the change to get to $28. She was going to give me the last money she had and would have no money until Friday, 3 days away. I picked up the bills and put them back in her wallet. There's no way I was going to take that money. This set off another round of tears. Tears of joy, but tears. I gave her a friendly hug and told her the whole job was free today.
I went back and finished gathering my tools as Jenny went into the bedroom and closed the door. I hadn't meant to embarrass her, but I understood. I took one load out and came back for the last sweep around to make sure I hadn't left anything. As I came out of the bathroom, Jenny came out of her bedroom. She wasn't wearing the pants and sweatshirt she'd been wearing all day. Instead she had on a well worn, but clean, see thru nighty. Her dark nipples showed clearly thru the cloth.
I stammered that I didn't mean to intrude I was just making a last sweep for any tools I'd left. I turned quickly away from her and started down the hallway.
"Wait", she said quickly. "I need to give you something for all the work you did. I don't have money, but maybe you'd let me thank you another way...."
As I turned to face her while she was talking, she could see that I was going to decline her apparent offer of sex.