® A Day in the Life: Bad Advice

We all have people give us advice. Some folks seem pretty good at giving advice, asked for or not. I wonder how many of these folks realize the long-term effects of their counsel. One fella, he was the Parts Dept. manager in a Honda shop I worked in, I especially remember. The owner of the dealership liked this guy a lot, I think because he somehow managed to sell a lot of accessories. But us mechanics, well, we had a different opinion. The guy tried overly hard to convince us he was as good behind a wrench as behind the parts counter. But I learned what he was made of one day, and the lesson has stuck with me ever since. He was watching me laboriously scrape the gasket from an engine cover when he said, "You know, you really should use a power sander on that, save a lot of time.". I remember looking up at him, not sure if he was serious or what. He continued, "Can't make any money doing it your way.". I knew then what sort he was. And you know, I think of him each time I carefully prepare a gasket surface even today, 38 years later. I have replaced enough gaskets in the years since that I have long since been unneedful of such advice. But I wonder if he ever dreamed his advice would have the opposite of its intended effect, that it would simply harden my resolve to do it right?

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