By Jim Pilgrim
Today, I visited one of our customers. We needed to do some work at 2 on their 70 PON cabinets that they have in service. I sat down with one of their engineers and discussed the scope of work. He seemed a little stressed and told me he was pretty busy. I said, “You stay and work, I can do it.” He turned to me and said, “I trust you Jim, you don’t need me to chaperone.” That is one of the best compliments I’ve ever been paid. He gave me the two addresses and I headed out.
The first stop was not in the best neighborhood in this city and I was greeted at the cabinet by a barking Pit Bull. Yipes, I thought, I have no one to watch my back and I have a dog not very happy with my intrusion. I grabbed my tools and carefully exited my car. Once the pit bull saw that I wasn’t going to steal his dog food and I wasn’t a threat, he calmed down. In fact, after a few minutes while I was doing my prep-work, he came over, sat down and watched me work. Cool, I did have someone to watch my back after all! When I was done with my work, I thanked him for his help, and he came over to me and rolled over on his back. I guess he wanted me to scratch his belly. With a certain amount of apprehension, I did. Trust is a two-way street.
Sometimes customers can be pit bulls, both good and bad.
I am thankful today these two trusted me.