Building A Wood Gate For Under $10
One of my best friends told me this story and I couldn't
believe it, but I want to share it with all of my readers. Bob lived
across the street from Esther who was 90 years old and seen her first
airplane when she was 11. Bob usually helped everyone in the
neighborhood with their home repairs, if he could and always gave them
bargain prices.
One time Esther called Bob over to her house, to build a wood gate,
because her wood gate was completely destroyed and no longer worked. Bob
told her that it wouldn't be a problem and the next day he would go down
and purchased the building materials and start working on the gate.
When Bob went down to the lumber yard to pick up all of the lumber and
hardware that he needed to build the new wood gate, it cost $75, for all
of the materials. He didn't think anything of it, because he usually
included his receipts for building materials in his bills and gave the
bills to his clients. He never had any problems and everyone in the
neighborhood loved him and relied on him for any problems they had with
their homes.
It took Bob about eight hours to finish the project and when he was
done, he found Esther sitting in her garage like she usually did day
after day watching TV. She loved being outside and watching TV. Her
garage provided her with the best of both worlds. Bob told her that he
was done and she reached into her purse and pulled out a five dollar
bill.
Here you go Bob, thanks for building my gate, I really appreciate it. “I
bet you do,” Bob said as he walked away with his five dollar bill. He
didn't have the heart to tell her, that she only gave him five dollars,
but years later he shared this story with me and I'm sharing it with
you.
Bob told me that Esther had lived through the Depression and didn't have
a good concept of what things cost today. In her heart, she really
believed that five dollars was more than enough to pay anyone to repair
a wood gate.
I've always been honored to call Bob my friend and whenever I remember
this story, it reminds me about how good of a friend I really have.