$105
My father’s friend, the Argentine doctor, is often assailed with medical questions when he’s off duty. I can relate; I hate when a computer savant asks me a technical question that I KNOW they will not understand the answer to. At this point, I’ve deferred to the polite answer, “I can explain it to you, but I can’t understand it for you.”
This particular friend has blown away the notion that doctors are horribly overpaid; when you figure out the expense of med school coupled with malpractice insurance, and add the constant fear that you will still be sued despite that insurance, plus the fact that you are ALWAYS on call, and your life is never truly your life anymore, well, it’s enough to make me not want to be a doctor. Lucky for us there are crazy people who do.
So one evening, the conversation turned to finances. You could tell he was uncomfortable with the topic, and chose instead to tell a quick joke to explain why professional services cost so much:
There was once this mechanic… a man broke down on the side of the road while this mechanic was passing by. He waved at the mechanic frantically.
“Hey, Mister, I’m broke down. Can you help me fix my car?”
“Why, yes, I’m a mechanic.”
“You don’t say! Well, you fix my car, then send me your bill.” They shook on the deal. The mechanic looked under the hood, then walked back to his truck and grabbed a hammer. He went back to the car, tapped on something beneath the hood, and the engine roared to life. The owner was overjoyed, until the mechanic came back and handed him a bill.
“$105! All you did was bang on something with a hammer!”
“You asked me to fix it. I fixed it.”
“But what’s the $105 dollars for??? A hammer only costs $5!”
“Yes…. $5 for the hammer…. $100 to know what to hit with it.”
I cracked up as I thought about all the “free” graphic design I’ve done, not to mention all the “free” photography that took literally hours to finish and make presentable. Until this point, I’ve never felt right about charging what I do for my services; but now, I’m finally starting to see that I AM worth something.
November 28th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
You’ve ALWAYS been worth something!!!!
November 28th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
It’s about time you decided to start charging!
November 28th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
WOW-YOU ACTUALLY WERE LISTENING HUH?
November 29th, 2007 at 6:34 am
You’re the mother of a wonderful child. You are not only worth far more than you can imagine, but you are grossly underpaid for everything you do.
When someone looks at you funny for telling them a price, simply remind them that you have a family to feed, clothe and take care of. Friends are friends, but you have to make a living too.
November 29th, 2007 at 7:05 am
BTW, you might want to switch savant with ludite
November 29th, 2007 at 7:09 am
I thought that you, of all people, Dylan, would recognize the sarcasm in that one…
December 6th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
I’m a professional geek and I get the same thing all the time. Only, I’ve dealt with a lot of executives, so I’ve learned how to explain things with some pretty good analogies.
The other night, I explained the difference between RAM and a hard drive to someone who couldn’t figure out the difference between the two kinds of “memory”. When I was done, she got this funny look on her face and told me that no one had been able to explain it to her so she could understand before. Made it all worthwhile.
I do a lot of computer networking and I used to charge for it, but then I got bit by the taxes once. Now, I mainly trade service for meals. Setting up a wireless connection for someone gets me really good chili. I may not be getting rich, but I’m getting fat!