11. Giving Them A Taste Of The Local Hospitality
A few years ago I had a side hustle on my days off. My job had a rotational schedule where I worked two weeks then got two weeks off. I made plenty of money at my job, but it didn’t hurt to make a little extra cash. I was in essence a tour guide.
But for the region I lived in. I didn’t have any planned tours but usually just took people to see neat places that they would not know about or think to go to. I was adamant about getting paid up front. And customers signed an agreement saying that made guarantees to protect my truck from messes or damage.
Never had any issues fortunately, and people always enjoyed the places I showed them. Except for one family. They seemed friendly enough when I was having them sign a contract and collecting my fee. I should mention my fee was $15/hour + $75 ($35 if it was a half day).
This covered a tank of fuel, plus paid for my time shuttling you around. I also kept a cooler with free water and some limited snacks. You were paying for my knowledge of the region, plus knowledge about the area’s history and such.
Plenty of times I had customers tell me, “I’ve never seen so much cool stuff in one day”. You could maybe find something cheaper, but I didn’t care. Once money changed hands with this family, the attitude changed.
They began treating me like I was a second class citizen. But I had their money, so I didn’t care. I drove them around to some of the most beautiful scenery you can find. It’s rare people are left speechless by these places and never have I seen someone not be impressed. Until now.
Every place I showed them they just seemed disappointed. One of the places was a ski town popular with a lot of celebrities (not Aspen), and they were just like “Eh, it’s ok”. I can’t deny I was a little offended by their indifference but whatever.
They were never outright rude during the day, but were surprised when I didn’t buy lunch for them. As I said, you’re paying for my time, food is on you.But when I got back to town and dropped them off at their hotel, it got interesting.
The wife says, “You can just park in the back and leave the keys at the desk. Tell them they are for the Smith family”. Me: “I’m sorry, what”? Wife: “This truck, just park it in the back. We might use it later”. Me: “This is my truck. I’m not leaving it here, that’s not part of the deal”
Wife: “Oh please, there is no way you can own a vehicle like this. It obviously belongs to your company”. Me: “I do this job by myself, on my days off from my regular job. I assure you, this is my truck. I can show you my name on the title”. Wife: “Young man (I had just turned 30) If you don’t do as your told I will be forced to call your boss”. Me: “You mean me? I am my boss”. Wife: “Okay smarty-pants, get your boss on the phone, right now”! I thought about just driving off, but then had a better idea. I called my supervisor at my real job.
We’ll call him Dan. Dan has been in the oilfield for 14 years and could have quite the potty mouth. Good supervisor, he knew what I did on my days off and even sent people my way a few times. He answered and I just said, “One of my clients is demanding to speak with my boss, so here she is” and handed her my phone.
The wife, sounding smug, said “I tried to tell your driver to leave the truck here so we could use it but he lied and said he owns it”. I could hear him yelling “ARE YOU (BLEEPING) STUPID”? I didn’t discern anything else but I know he gave her a good thrashing.She just walked to the window, handed me my phone, and said, “He wants to talk to you” then walked away. Boss: “That fix your problem”? Me: “Yea, thanks Dan”. Boss: “Anytime brother”.
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