Margaret writes from Buffalo: "Dear Mary, we have a lovely young man who mows our lawn
in the summer and shovels our walks in the winter. He was recommended to us because he
is a friend of our eldest grandchild. He does a great job and is always very courteous.
I became concerned when our bill increased dramatically. He explained that he had to
treat the yard and the bill would go back to normal the following month. The next month’s
bill again had extra charges. He had another reason about fuel surcharges or something.
I’m beginning to think he may be taking advantage of us. Should I say something to
our grandson who is his friend? What do I do next?"
Okay, Margaret. I don’t think I would say anything to your grandson about his friend.
If you notice that these extra charges seem to pop up right around homecoming or prom
time or a rock concert, you probably have cause to be suspicious. It could be that this,
quote, lovely, unquote young man has his own stimulus plan. It seems pretty simple to me.
All you have to say is that any increase in charges must be mentioned before any work
is done. Now because he is young, this is a novel idea for him, since it is a concept
that has not been in use in the congress of the United States in years. The good news
is that summers in Buffalo last what? About five weeks? So most of his time will be spent
shoveling snow which thankfully will require no fuel surcharges and very few yard treatments.
