Recently my wife Samantha was finishing up on UFOs (UnFinished Objects) around the house when she ran into a problem with making covered buttons for a bench she was re-covering. The fabric she chose is fairly thick — too thick to work in the fabric-store-notion-department DIY cover button kit. She needed to go to the upholstery shop and let a professional with the proper tools make them. At the local upholstery shop she met Larry. He was rocking out to some fun music when she walked in, but still greeted her with a big smile and asked how he could help her. When she explained the issue, he led her to his work table, where she spread out the fabric and explained what she needed.
He grabbed his button die, cut out the fabric into circles, and loaded the fabric. Then, he took her to the big press — which was the missing element in her attempts to make the covered buttons. He pulled the lever, and in just a couple of minutes (if that), he had made eight beautiful covered buttons.
When she asked how much she owed him for his labor and materials (the button forms), he said, “No charge.” Seriously? She tried to argue that she needed to pay for his time and parts, but he simply asked her what was going to be used to tie the buttons onto the project. She was going to re-use the string removed from the bench when the old fabric was stripped off, because it was perfectly good. Instead, he cut eight lengths of heavy-duty string and added that to her cache.
Now completely floored with his charity, she asked once more if she could pay him, but he just smiled and told her how much he loves what he does. He said he is “semi-retired” and no longer works long hours every day, but truly enjoys reupholstering furniture for people. He has many repeat customers, and it is clear why — his joie de vivre — was contagious. Never mind the fact that he gave her the very thing she needed to complete the project (which probably cost him twenty minutes labor and $2 — $3 in materials), but the gift he gave was so much more. He made my wife’s whole day brighter and happier, and that is a priceless gift. Instead of just conducting a business transaction, he blessed her and gave her a part of himself, which, in this day of self-promotion and entitlement, was a gift that kept on giving. It spilled out from him to her, and then from her to others, for the rest of that day.
Thank you, Larry. You truly are a HAPPY upholsterer, and a thoroughly grounded individual. How can you pass on more joie de vivre and exceed expectations today?