TAP DANCE
KNOWING WHERE TO TAP
"There is an old story of a boilermaker who was hired to fix a huge steamship boiler system that was not working well. After listening to the engineer's description of the problems and asking a few questions, he went to the boiler room. He looked at the maze of twisting pipes, listened to the thump of the boiler and the hiss of escaping steam for a few minutes, and felt some pipes with his hands.
Then he hummed softly to himself, reached into his overalls, and took out a small hammer, and tapped a bright red valve, once. Immediately the entire system began working perfectly, and the boilermaker went home.
When the steamship owner received a bill for $1,000 he complained that the boiler maker had only been in the engine room for fifteen minutes, and requested an itemized bill. This is what the boilermaker sent him:
For tapping with hammer: $0.50
For knowing where to tap: $999.50
Total: $1,000.00
John L. Stevens
KEEP TAPPING
Tom Schilling, June 22, 2020