Appliance Doc’s advice: Share your talents, help others
A few days ago I spoke to a class of high school students at Stuckey School in Redford thanks to John Konen, a teacher who lives up the street from our house.
These kids wanted to know what I did for a living and my reply was simple. “I do things that help others.” You could say that this has been true for most of my life. An example was emailed to me the other day by a nice lady who wrote about my old days.
Michel wrote: “You’re right about old products lasting long. I had a Philco freezer for 47 years and put it on Freecycle because I didn’t want to defrost it any longer. It ran great, even though it went through two basement floods with my Whirlpool dryer, where the water was three feet deep. Now, what I’m writing you about is my dryer, which I bought in 1962. It runs great, but the timer is broken and I have to keep an eye on it and be sure I turn it off when the clothes are dry. I love my dryer; we’ve been through a lot together. It’s old, a bit rusty on the bottom and not as attractive as it used to be, but neither am I. I’d like to get a timer for it. Is there a place that I can get that particular part without being a technician?
Do it yourself
“As an aside, years ago, about 40 of them, the belt broke on my dryer and I called your store to send a repairman out. He came, had me watch him put the belt on, took it off and put it on again. Then he took it off, handed it to me and said, “You put it on.” I said, ‘WHAT?’ He said, ‘I see you have no ring on your finger, a couple of kids, and I’m betting you’re divorced and can’t afford to have someone come in and do this again. I want you to know how to do it so all you have to do is buy the part.’ I could have, okay I did, cried. What a decent guy and a wonderful employee and representative of the company.
“Another time I had a huge bulky old Tappan microwave that I bought in the mid-80s. It wouldn’t work, so I called your store again to see if I could bring it in. I told the guy on the phone that it weighed about 50 pounds. He told me to unplug it, take the housing off and see if it had a round glass fuse. I did and it did. He said to change the fuse and things would be okay. I did, and they were. I have nothing but good — no, great— things to say about the store you once owned. It’s wonderful to find a company that is helpful and not after the almighty dollar. I finally passed the microwave on to a family whose house burned down and needed everything, and bought a new one with a turntable! Anyway, I digress, back to the timer for my dryer. Can I get one somewhere? Love your column, Michel.”
Be kind to others
This email brought back a lot of memories. I can be just about anywhere when a past customer walks up and relates a story how I saved them money or showed them how to fix it themselves.
Somewhere in the Bible it states that if you have a talent and don’t share it with others, it is classified as a sin. I explained this to the high school students the other day and suggested that they walk down a street, select a senior citizen with no family and offer to paint the fence. It’s not hard to learn how to clean and prepare it and use a brush to make it look good.
My last tip for the kids came from English literature. Life is filled with ups and downs, mood swings and all sorts of depression. A fellow named Shakespeare once wrote, “Life is but a stage, and you are the actor.” Reach into your hearts and do something good for others. You might be surprised at how good it makes you feel. Stay tuned.
Joe Gagnon can be heard at 8 a.m., Saturdays on WAAM 1600. You can e-mail your problems and questions on appliances to appldr@twmi.rr.com