The Goodness of Man

My air conditioner didn't turn on when I flipped the thermostat. Boy, did that make my day!

I had been hoping to make it to June 1st without having to have air, but with high 80's and the humidity climbing I figured I better turn it on to get a good nights sleep. So about 6 o'clock this evening I turned the thermostat and nothing, nada, zippo. Ugh!

The A/C I have was installed about 5 years ago by an A/C man referred to me by one of my customers. He'd been servicing my old one for years and when it finally gave up the ghost he gave me a really good deal on a new one. You see, my A/C man does this on the side. He actually works for MARTA full-time but started doing A/C work on the side years ago. The great thing about him is he is fast, very knowledgeable, and very fair in his costs. I don't mind paying a person for doing a job, especially one as important as an A/C man. But I hate paying the A/C companies and the trainees they send out that get paid on commission and for up selling you. So that's what I love about Wade, the A/C man. All he asks for is an honest wage for an honest job!

So that's what happened tonight. I called him about 8 tonight, once I had exhausted trying all the tricks I knew, which weren't many. He answered the phone, as he usually does, with no receptionist to deal with, no call backs, no telephone tag. Just Wade. I told him who I was, what the problem was and he said he was at a customers and would call me back when he left. About 9:00 he called back. Probably in his truck heading home. I didn't ask. We went through the symptoms and he quickly had narrowed it down to the thermostat. I took the cover off, shorted the red and green wires like he said and Bingo, there's the air! So now all I have to do is go to Home Depot in the morning, (they're closed now) and get a new thermostat. Then I'll have A/C.

That's great, but what's amazing about this story and why I titled it the Goodness of Man, is this....... If I had gone to Handy Ace the Air Conditioner man, he wouldn't have walked me through the way Wade did. He would have made me wait at least 2 days before he got to me, then charge me a $100 service call fee and then probably would have charged me $200 to install a $39.95 thermostat. But not Wade, not someone like him that does it the right way, with integrity, honesty and plain ol goodness! He tried to help me first, before he even thought about what he could or would charge me. Then when we got it figured out and I offered to pay him, to send him a check, he just laughed and said he'll catch me later!

There aren't enough out there like Wade the A/C man, but I'm thankful that I know at least one!