[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

I had a long term client last year tell me how expensive I was as we stood next to his brand new mansion, with another worker applying gold leaf to his newly installed Greek goddess statues. Told me that what I do was not rocket science and that I had to reduce my prices. And guess who is on the phone when his roses have bugs on them and wants them diagnosed and treated? And guess who is now having trouble finding someone to work for him?

One of the golden rules of life is to NEVER question what someone earns or what their time is worth until you know the facts. Just because a plumber, for example, charges $100 a hour, does not mean he actually earns $100 an hour.

Completely off topic, but I used to manage a number of contracts at the power station I work at. One of those contracts was the cleaning contract. It was amazing as to how poorly the cleaners would get treated at times. A number of times I got called up asking if I could get the cleaners to go and clean up a mess left behind by other tradies after doing office renos or other work in the office space. I flatly refused. The folks managing those tradies couldn't understand why. I explained that, from my own personal experience, it was part of the tradies job to clean up after themselves. Properly. As an apprentice, I was taught that you left the place cleaner than when you arrived. Clealry that work ethic hadn't continued through to the tradies working for us. I also explained, that it was not the cleaners job to go around and clean up after lazy tradies. That was not the purpose for why we employed them. I also felt like it was dismissive of what they were there for. The tradies soon got the message, and began cleaning up after themselves.

On occasion, I also had our operators (the guys who are THE most highly paid people in the place) complain about how poor a job the cleaners did of cleaning up after them. I pointed out to them, that the place could not operate without operators, nor could the operators operate without clean toilets, clean showers, clean brew room facilities, having their precious supplies of tea, coffee, drinking chocolate and milk topped up such that they always had a hot drink available to them whenever they needed it, and if these jobs weren't done, the place would shut down in a heartbeat. I hope i helped create new respect for our cleaning crew.

No matter what job you do, it exists for a reason and is invariably important in some way to the success of the business you operate in. Respect everyone equally.