Q for those whose DH has a trade

joy143dh

My half-sister (who I RARELY talk too) just called for DH's work number.  He's an auto mechanic - owns & operates by himself and is very very busy every minute of the day.   I hardly ever talk to him during the day.  Anyway, she got a CD stuck in her CD player and wanted to call for his advice on how to get it out.    First of all, this is not really the thing he would do - even his customers know that he does more specialized type of stuff.  Secondly, she NEVER calls just to talk - only when she needs car help from him or computer help from me.  Lastly, I know how busy he was going to be today and it is SO distracting when calls come in. 

So, I told her he was really busy today and I'd rather not bother him with that right now, but she said "well, he's my BIL and I want to ask him".  I offered to have him call when he gets home tonight, and she said "but that may not be until 10pm and I need to get the CD out!"   I tried to explain that he doesn't come home until 10pm because of how busy he is (aka. don't call with this, he's BUSY).  I also told her that I would probably just go down to Mobil and see if they could get it out before even bothering him with it (honest truth!)

Anyway, I ended up giving her the number.  I just called and he was on the other line with her, but told me not to worry, it's totally fine.. He's a good guy.  But I still feel like I should have told her that I would let him know and have him call her when he is not so busy...  What do you do when your family wants advice/free service/etc?   Again, he was ok with it - it's more that I don't like that she thinks that it's OK to interupt him for something so dumb....  Maybe I just needed to vent...

august06mom

Your sister is in the wrong here.

KrisBriMcBunny

My SIL is like that with DH (her brother)  He's an IT specialist and she feels that since he's her brother that he can stop everything drive an hour to her house & fix her computer.  He doesnt mind fixing her computer but he's not gonna drop everything to do it.  So when family calls about a computer problem I tell them that I will have him call them back.

Your sister should have had just a little bit of patience.  Your dh sounds like a super nice & patient guy.

newwifey

My brother is a mechanic and this is the kind of thing that would make him bonkers. How is a broken RADIO something that you call an auto mechanic for?

Anyway, for this kind of thing my brother has people call his cell. Only call the shop # if it is a dire emergency.  And he would ignore it until he had time to deal with it.

justEK

My DH is an electrician and works in commercial. Our family really knows that he doesn't do residential since it's such a liability. I had an Uncle call a couple of weeks ago upset that he had no power and he had his hands in the breaker box. He expected my DH to leave work to fix whatever he did. He was annoyed that I would not give him his number, but I told him it was a work phone, he's running a job and in the middle of start-up. No way could I bother him. I told him he needed to call an electrician right away. He continued to mess with it and kept calling me, my dad and brother. It ended up being a blown breaker in a super old house.

Anyway, all that to say no way would I have given her the phone number. It's pretty sh!tty of her to keep bugging you and treat you like you are the bad guy for not wanting to give it up. I think I would start screening her calls for awhile.

jettagurl

My H is great about this also.  He's an electrician. He will answer EVERY call - you never know when it is something big (as in $$$$$).  

In this case, I would have just ended it with telling her that he wouldn't be able to take her call, but he would call her tonight or first thing in the morning.  Something like her car smoking on the interstate, sure.

H got a call Saturday while we were at the Children's Museum  (mind you the 1st time H has been there and B is nearly 5, and we have a membership!).  It was a customer from long ago...because her lights won't work. She used a space heater the night before, and now nothing works. He told her he'd come over that evening (a Saturday).  He got there and guess what it was?  Burnt-out bulbs. Things like that just burn him......she claims that they both went out at the same.  Then he feels bad for charging the customer (but I don't!) 

 H is always glad to help everyone - but sometimes I wish he wasn't so nice.  Fortunately, though, his caring nature allows be to be a SAHM.   

 

knmommy

DH fixes appliances, my family is pretty good about not bothering him.  (I do hate it when the few cousins I do have that don't really talk to me, call out of no where)  I really hate it when neighbors come walking over that we haven't even met because they see his truck in the drive. 

juniper19

DH is a neurologist and friends call frequently about medical stuff he knows absolutely nothing about.  The most recent was a neighbor who wanted him to look at her (adult) daughter's throat.  That would be as useful as having a car mechanic look at it (or asking DH to fix a car!)  I tried to run interference for him, but she was pretty insistent.  He was totally ready to go just to be personable, but they changed their minds.  Maybe they realized it was a waste of everyone's time.

Mrs Manners

You did the right thing by attempting to delay her interruption of him until an "off hour". Dh is a computer geek so everyone thinks he should know the answer to everything (including stupid things like. "I forgot my password" and "how do I change the dates on these photos in this random photo application you've never seen or heard of.") and that he should be available right then because it's convenient for THEM.