Cynicism.
We are bombarded with it on every side in the form of a veritable raincloud of comedians, movies, sitcoms, magazines, and news broadcasts which envelop and affect us whether we like it or not. To combat this omnipresent threat to our innocence, we must make a conscious effort to insulate us from this onslaught of negativity and naysayers.
Houston, we may have a problem, but good news for modern man, I may have a solution.
I've read that we need to be converted and become like little children. A capitol suggestion and one I heartily agree with. So, with this in mind, please indulge me as I share a short story of a beautiful little girl and the accompanying video of her playing the piano.
The day I met she and her mom was June 6, 2024. It promised to be a typical day of tuning pianos and began with an appointment tuning a gorgeous Weber 6' 1" grand piano manufactured in 1901 and subsequently restored around 2006. It resides in the sanctuary of the Stanton First Congregational Church which is also very old, and the ideal setting for this piano. After tuning I always play a tune or two, and because Jody the church's secretary has previously told me she enjoys it, I play with gusto to this audience of one.
This stately, singing instrument is the perfect elixir to alleviate modern day stresses and cynicism caused by cheap electronic keyboards. There is little or no romance in a keyboard and as my title suggests, restoring the romance must include mainly acoustic pianos which benefit from a good, solid tune-up.
Next on the Google calendar was a quick stop to deliver a piano lamp that had been riding in my vehicle since November 20, 2023. That was the day we had moved a customer's Samick upright from uptown Sheridan, MI to a split-level ranch located on the lower southeast side of the same town which is, in other words, the middle of nowhere in the country. We had successfully lugged the piano up the eight steps to the living room and were surprised when we received a sizable tip from the owner who had truthfully worked harder than me.
So, it was with considerable irritation that I realized later that day we had forgotten to get the piano lamp out of the back of the delivery truck and set it on the piano. For some reason, I was either not anywhere near the house after that day, or I would forget to deliver it back when I was nearby.
Our prompt service pledge was not living up to its name, and it was really quite embarrassing to think I could be fostering the very cynicism I am supposedly fighting against. Thankfully, my customer from Sheridan is a very patient person and subscribes to the belief that being patient is always the better option. I wanted to apologize to her in person and so was disappointed when no one was home. I placed the lamp on the front porch of the deserted house and drove off to the sound of their dog barking his head off.
Probably chastising me for my delinquency.
I navigated to the next home a few miles away and wondered how the piano waiting for me was going to tune up. It was a Story and Clark console of the garden variety or so I thought. When I entered the home and first sat down at the piano, the nice lady informed me that the piano had belonged to an accomplished pianist who had received it as a gift from her husband. It had not been serviced in the eighteen years since the previous owner had passed away, and after my customer received it and moved it into their home, had it tuned. That had been three years ago, and she had called me to tune it again. From the moment I first pulled out my tuning lever and struck the tuning fork against my knee to sound A440, my customer's little girl was completely attentive. She was so excited to play it after it was tuned, and I could tell she could hardly wait for me to finish. It was very out of tune and needed a two times through tuning get it stay at the proper pitch. When I finally completed my work, I thanked the lady for the work, collected my Venmo payment and left.
The next day, I received a text from my customer asking about another piano she had in another room. She sent a picture of it, and I was amazed to recognize this piano as the one my wife and I had fixed up close to forty years ago and given to some close friends as a wedding gift. These friends had left the piano when they moved out of their house and my customer had ended up with it somehow! I had always wondered what happened to this piano, and I was overjoyed that I would once again be the one to service it!
I then asked my customer how her daughter liked the piano since I had tuned it, and she sent me the video you see below. After watching it, I was overcome with positive, uplifting thoughts about how things are not so bad, and thanks to that little girl and her kind mother, the romance was restored for me just a little more.
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