Giving More

          Every where I go during most day, I am in my company’s shirt, which clearly displays the companies name above the pocket. SO, when I’m out and about I am a walking advertisement or detriment to my cause. If I go into a local hardware store, I am often asked questions. I take the moment to try and explain the method to do them. Occasionally the question has me to have a few questions of my own. If and when I determine the cause of their questioning to be worthy, I may offer my services without charge. I am not talking about remodels, or major projects. I am talking about small things, which usually who cost a couple thousand to repair, and the repairs is labor intensive.

            I do not let others provide me with clients for these services. I do not do these services continuously. And many times, I believe that the person who is asking the questions isn’t capable of doing the task or doesn’t understand the risk. I will not explain how to wire anything to a person I meet under the described condition or any task which is dangerous. Shingling a roof is hard but it is dangerous. Repairing a leaking roof isn’t hard but there are often discoveries.

            A person asked me to come and give an estimate on a task she needed preformed. She was told by a person that may have meant well that it would be a five-dollar fix. Telling her it would only require new mastic. After climbing onto the roof, I took a few photos to show her she had hole in the roll-roofing of her cricket. (A cricket is the water direction which directs water off the roof that is built between two roofs the have gable end. These appear like an upside-down W and the cricket is needed to direct water off in the smaller V in the center.) The lady was a single person with two boys who I realized had many yard sales to try and make ends meet so I offered my help.

The task grew. The replacement of the roll roofing with peel an stick roofing became replacing the sheathing of the cricket to cutting proper supports and replacing two sheets of plywood over the garage and one over the home itself. And adding the valley metal strips as needed as they were not there from the original builder of the home. After work and on the weekend, I preformed the needed task. I did not charge the amount normally this would have cost her. She had gotten previously bid of $1,600 before the person told her it was a five dollar fix, that was going to come and inspect my workmanship but never showed up. HE would not have been allowed to climb my ladder to inspect my work but I could not stop him from bringing his own to inspect after I had left.

I took photo of each discovery and each repair. When I finished the task, I think she was concerned that the task grew to large to be done as someone helping another person. That is not why I agreed to help. Once you state you are giving something then give it, even if it cost you more to do so. If it was the right thing to do when you first met then it remains the right thing to do through the end. You already determined the need when before you started. You are the professional and new the possibility of the task growing or you should have. You could call it a learning experience or whatever you need to. But if you said you’d repair the roofs leak in one location, do it. Somehow some way the blessings you give will come back to you. Don’t allow your blessings become a burdens to you or those you’ve said you would help.

Note: Images on this blog site are from a free source or taken by the author. No image or group of photos is intended to represent the people the author serves. The author does not care about Race (that is a politically correct term that he does not like because we are all of the same Race, the Human Race. He prefers the term ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender, marital status, disability, genetic information, national origin, source of income, Veteran or military status, ancestry, citizenship, primary language or immigration status.) He is a service provider for all people. We will all rise together when we band together and help one another. Joseph Erwin is a Real Estate Broker, DRE # O2131799, and a CA general contractor # B 696662. He’s a member of the CRMLS and The East Valley Association of Realtors located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California.