Service Competence

One thing I really miss about the upper Midwest was that when you
dealt with service personnel--contractors, mechanics, sales clerks,
hell, even employees at fast food restaurants, there was a remarkable
level of competence there.

Here in Florida not so much.

I think its a function of the economy--in the Detroit area people who
couldn't or wouldn't got their asses canned quick, while in Florida
when we arrived during the boom time simply being able to fog up a
mirror qualified you for any number of positions. Call a contractor
and you're a) lucky if he shows up to do an estimate, b) lucky if he
shows up to do the work, c) extremely lucky if he does a decent job,
and d) hit the lottery if he does it all within a reasonable time.
However, on the recommendation of a neighbor I had a guy come in and
install crown molding in our master bathroom.

Because our house is a custom job--we got a deal because the original
buyer (read investor) backed out--the master bathroom is loaded with
all sorts of coves, niches and whoop-de-doos, the guy had to make
twenty six compound mitre cuts, only a handful of which were ninety
degrees. And because none of the wall to wall, wall to ceiling
sheetrock work is truly square, even those "easy" cuts that you read
the settings off of a chart weren't truly easy. Dude completes 18x18
room in less than two hours and charges me $200. I don't think he had
any wastage beside the sawdust.

Got to talking with him--turns out he's from Janesville, WI.
.

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