I was not surprised that the teenage girl sat by the piano chatting with me while I worked on it. Teens usually liked to be around me, and being the youth leader at my church, I was accustomed to interacting with them. Besides, I was the cool guy. A genuine professional musician, with a pony tail. Or, was it my teased out perm phase? (Yes,I had hair once.) Also,since this girl was the piano player, she often coaxed me into showing her some new jazz scale, as her teacher disapproved of anything not classical. I had tuned her piano ever since she started lessons and over the years had taught her many keyboard gymnastics that she enjoyed impressing her friends with. The last thing I expected her to ask me was where she could get a flannel shirt like the one I was wearing. Of course, she knew where to buy a normal sized shirt, but, not where to get a huge 4 XL like mine. It seems the fad among teen girls that year was to wear the biggest flannel shirts they could get their hands on like a jacket. I started to explain that the shirt had to be mail ordered from a big men's speciality catalog, and, since it was a niche market, you had to pay big bucks. Then, came an inspiration! "You know what hon," I said. "This is my last job tonight. I can drive home in my undershirt. It's all yours." How's that for value added customer service? She's a mom now with teens of her own. I still tune her piano. She often tells her kids, "Mister Aaron once gave me the shirt off his back." As I write this the fad with teens is over sized baggy pants. I hope no one asks.
