Gerald’s first handmade stool rocked on every floor in his house.
He took it to the cafe to ask a carpenter for advice. The owner put it beside the counter, where it stood perfectly still.
She immediately ordered five more.
Gerald asked whether she could promise him one thing….
Gerald had made a stool at evening class. It had four legs, although they didn’t seem to have agreed on a height.
His wife, Sue, tried it in the kitchen.
Lovely, she said. You can sit down and exercise at the same time.
Gerald put folded paper under the shortest leg. Then another leg became the shortest.
He took it to the cafe, where his friend Alan, a carpenter, had breakfast.
Before Alan arrived, the owner asked what he was carrying.
A small problem, Gerald said.
She needed somewhere to sit while doing the accounts. She put the stool on the old tiled floor behind the counter.
It didn’t move.
Gerald checked underneath it. No paper. No wedge.
The owner sat down and smiled.
Perfect. Everything else rocks in this corner.
Gerald explained that this was his first attempt.
Then you should sell them, she said. I need five for the tables by the window.
Gerald looked at the sloping floor. Then he looked at his stool.
Would they all need to be exactly like this?
Exactly.
Alan came in as the owner was asking about delivery.
He congratulated Gerald on his first order.
Gerald didn’t look pleased.
Before I agree, he told the owner, can you promise me one thing?
What’s that?
You won’t repair the floor.
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