Steel toe caps?
My son-in-law, Paul, husband to my eldest daughter, is a plumber. He is also an electrician, a decorator, and an imaginative designer.
He is a fair-minded man and doesn’t charge over the odds for a job, reasoning that his reputation will speak for itself and ensure that he always has work. Too often, he is called in to rectify someone else’s botched and usually overpriced work.
We often tell him that he doesn’t charge enough but he continues in the way he always has, and it suits him and his conscience. He’ll never be rich, but he will always be able to live with his decisions.
He meets some very interesting people and treats them all with the same courtesy and respect, whether they are lords or commoners, wealthy or poor, living in mansions or small cottages. He has a marked sense of humour and is a naturally amusing raconteur.
Until his father retired, Paul worked with him. One day, they were invited to give an estimate for fitting a new bathroom. Paul arrived at the house first, removed his boots as requested, and went inside to start the assessment. When Dave, his father, arrived a little later, the lady of the house asked him to take off his boots before he went in, but he politely refused.
‘What size shoes do you take?’ she said.
Not unnaturally, Dave asked, ‘Why?’
She replied, ‘I shall have to ask you to wear slippers if you come to work here.’
Dave responded, ‘These work boots are an essential part of our safety clothing.’
Somewhat tartly, she retorted, ‘Nonetheless, you must wear slippers if you come to work for me.’
He replied, ‘That’s fine; if you can find slippers with steel toe caps, then we’ll wear them.’
With that, Paul and Dave left, having decided that they wouldn’t take the job.
It was quite apparent that such a fussy woman would find all sorts of things to complain about and finally probably avoid paying the bill until forced to. She could have offered overshoes, after all. I wonder whether she found any workmen who agreed to abide by her rules.
Most workmen here wear steel-capped boots too and I agree they are essential. That woman could have laid down mats for them to walk on, or even newspapers. My dad was a plumber too and a gas fitter, but worked in the days before steel-capped boots. I don't remember when Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) got involved and changed many of the workwear rules in Australia, but I'm glad they did.
ReplyDeleteI think perhaps she was unused to having workmen in the house and didn't realise the potential dangers to feet.
DeleteLast time a plumber came here, he put paper booties over his work shoes to protect my floors. I certainly would want protective shoes in that trade. No fun if a water heater lands on your toe.
ReplyDeleteQuite so!
DeleteHere the tradesmen wear booties over their boots. I wish we had a tradesman here that was as honorable as your son.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteDoing right by people matters more than the money for some, and I like that. Also .... she had slippers??/ No, just no.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Some people are just plain daft!
DeleteHe seems like a well-grounded person that does honest work for honest earning. But my personal experience is that no good deeds get unpunished. He needs to look after himself too
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely - he does too much, sometimes.
DeleteYou are very fortunate.
ReplyDeleteOur house was built in the 1930s, solid and largely well finished. But yesterday we had VERY heavy rain and when I got home, I found spouse had put three buckets on the kitchen floor to save the floors. My beloved is a well educated man, but he desperately needed his plumbing and roofing colleagues.
It's a pain when there are leaks. The trouble is that when the weather is trying, everyone needs plumbers and roofers pdq and there aren't enough to go round.
DeleteThat sort of man - plumber, electrician or whatever - is worth their weight in gold and should be cherished!
ReplyDeleteHe can turn his hand to most things and is a very conscientious worker. We cannot survive without our artisans.
DeleteHe is rich, you know, just not with money!
ReplyDeleteMy plumber brings sheets to cover the floor/carpet if he is doing anything the least bit messy. It's not something I expected the first time but I was grateful.
xx
Most workmen worth their salt come prepared to minimise the inevitable mess, and clear up after themselves when they've finished a job.
DeleteHe sounds a great guy.
ReplyDeleteHe is a very nice man. My daughter is lucky to have him.
DeleteSounds a very sensible judge of people, I really can't understand why people drag their feet in paying, here once a job is done we pay, these days by bank transfer, sometime whilst the person is still here.
ReplyDeleteLikewise. We wouldn't keep the shopkeeper waiting.
DeleteThe fussy woman responded "tartly" so are you suggesting that she was a high class tart?
ReplyDeleteIn deepest Dorset? I don't think so . . . only rural and primitive there. '😗
DeleteOh yes, I forgot, high class tarts mostly come from Surrey... and Berkshire of course.
DeleteWith a huge Asian (Chinese and South East Asian) population here in houses and high rise buildings, tradies generally remove their boots but in my case, I stop them and say don't bother. Any external detritus that may have been on the boots will have fallen off by the time they reach my apartment, anyway. Japanese building have softwood floors, so it is normal to remove shoes. Huge ructions happened here when an Asian woman placed a sign outside her front door but in a common area, telling visitors to remove their shoes before entering.
ReplyDeleteBut in the situation you describe, it was a controlling woman who was being absurd and thinking she was better than other people. I am quite sure your SoiL or his father would not have worn muddy boots inside.
YouTube is full of very professional tradespeople fixing up the mess amateurs have made.
It's a growing trend in this country for visitors to remove shoes before entering houses. I don't do it and don't expect others to, either. I think it's a bit precious, actually, and not a cultural expectation.
DeleteIn his younger days my husband used to help lay carpet part-time when he wasn't at the firehouse. There were a few houses they went into that the people had such rules about when the men could do what. They turned down a couple jobs because of that. After all work has to be done and it needs to be done correctly and safely.
ReplyDeleteQuite so. People can behave in a very 'entitled' manner, without regard to safety.
DeleteI have no problem with trades people having specialised footwear or otherwise when they are inside the house. They have come to do a job for me that needs doing. Most either check with me first about footwear and/or where paper covers or put sheets down. I've never had a problem with this. Well done to Dave and his father for their response to that lady.
ReplyDeleteIt tradespeople want further business, which is often by recommendation, they will make sure they behave respectfully and responsibly.
DeleteSome plumbers here bring their own overshoes. Certainly that woman could have laid down newspaper or even towels; I think Paul and Dave had the right instincts in refusing to take off their protective shoes.
ReplyDeleteThey did. It was a few years ago, when overshoes might not have been so readily available, but it would not have helped their reputation to clump about without care.
DeleteCanadians tend to do the shoe-removal thing, but we don't expect workmen to follow suit. If it's not wet or snowy outside, we generally urge no precautions at all. Otherwise, boot covers will do. BTW, boot covers tend to be ubiquitously supplied by medical practitioners in winter or wet weather.
ReplyDeleteSupplying boot covers is a helpful practice. I object to going to a house viewing and being asked to remove my shoes. Providing overshoes would be a sensible option. They are provided at boat shows when people are tramping all over expensive yachts and cruisers.
DeleteI carry shoes,in a shoe bag all through the snow months. Most workmen (workpersons?) also remove outdoor footwear. If steel toed boots are needed, I cover the hardwood. Tile survives anything, but there is a drip mat at the front door.
ReplyDeleteIt just requires commonsense, really.
DeleteI wish your son in law was here, we are waiting on a plumber since Sunday at 3 pm, it is now 8:12 am... both of our bathrooms/loos will not flush. we need a plumber. of course it happened on Sunday and not on a week day... we could sure use a hand man we could trust, we have had some really bad ones.. and had to call the one we are waiting on to fix what he botched. Wyman's is a little more than others but they come and they a great job and they wear the little paper shoes when they come in the house..
ReplyDeleteThese things always seem to happen at weekends or public holidays, so the call out charge is higher. I hope your problem has been sorted now.
DeleteI don't particularly care if a workman wears their shoes in the house, but more and more they arrive with protective covers to slide over them.
ReplyDeleteIt's better than getting your ears chewed off!
DeletePlease send your son in law over here. He would be in great demand.
ReplyDeleteI'll be sure to tell him!
DeleteFun story.
ReplyDelete😀
DeleteGosh, a tame plumber in the family - how wonderful. And a nice one, who doesn't overcharge - be still, my beating heart.
ReplyDeleteHe's very obliging and much in demand, as he also fits kitchens and bathrooms.
DeleteI admire people like Paul. Good for him! It sounds like his Dad was the same way too and passed that down to his son. Dad was very smart not taking that job from the fussy one, a good judge of what was to come.
ReplyDeleteHe learnt a lot from his father.
DeleteI can't believe that woman insisted on them wearing slippers, and I wonder if in the end she found someone who was willing to do so! xxx
ReplyDeleteI often wonder that, too.
ReplyDeleteI too wonder whether she found any workmen who agreed to abide by her rules...
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
😁
DeleteWhile we are a no shoe house we do not force worker to take off their shoes, especially if their feet would be left unprotected.
ReplyDeleteI understand and respect cultural expectations and traditions, and behave accordingly, but this was just ridiculous.
DeleteMy late husband worked apartment maintenance for years, he would come home and tell me all the weird people he met and some of the strange things they would say. One lady met him at the door wearing nothing but a see through night gown. He told her he'd come back later and he brought the manager with him. lol
ReplyDeleteWise man to protect his reputation!
ReplyDeleteHe signs like a good guy! There are the light booties though that some service people have, as someone above has said. They are of the consistency of the very light (cheap) face masks that some people wear but cover the feet.
ReplyDeleteHe's a good chap, for sure.
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