He didn’t want a single customer to go without heating or air conditioning, and if that meant he worked harder than any other HVAC tech in his business; so be it.
When I made my decision to be an HVAC technician, I wasn’t thinking about how many long hours I would need to put in. I didn’t realize how many of my weekends would be sacrificed so I could take care of people who weren’t my family. I’m not regretting my decision to become an HVAC technician, but if I wanted to keep my wife, I was going to need to take a few more weekends off. I came up with the idea that if I wanted more time to myself, it may be a good idea for me to open a new HVAC company. If I owned that company, I wouldn’t need to sacrifice nearly as many weekends as I do now. I talked to my wife about my plans and she smiled. She thanked me for the nice thought, but she reminded me how many long hours her father put in. If no one else was available to work on weekends, he always took the job. He didn’t want a single customer to go without heating or air conditioning, and if that meant he worked harder than any other HVAC tech in his business; so be it. My wife explained that although she grumbled about not having any weekends with me, she was proud of the job I did and she didn’t want it to change. If I owned the HVAC company, she would have even less time with me. She told me she could wait until I retired, as long as it wasn’t another twenty-five years away. She wanted me to get work off for our son’s wedding, even though he was only five at the moment.