Did I mention that through all the holiday rush my wife broke her ankle in two places? ‘Tripped over the dog, and fell on a hardwood floor. Our Orthopedic Physician says it’s one of the most common falls in the home, and he sees ’em all the time.
Surgery with six screws and a plate came on Christmas Eve. She’s in good care, already improving by the day, and managing a positive spirit. But… did you know crutches are passé now? 
Getting around with a cast means the latest technology, and that’s a gizmo called the “knee walker”. It’s basically a glorified and adapted scooter, but it beats getting sore armpits, and offers a little more mobility. You can rent them or buy them, but either way they’re not cheap, and some insurance carriers won’t pay for them.
The surgical nurse sent us out the door with a handful of brochures of businesses we could contact for knee walkers. I got busy and made a call Saturday, not expecting a return call until Monday.
That same day a guy called back. ‘Said he was happy to help. We chatted about payment plans, and various options, and I asked him if he could text me his insurance code to my cell phone. I texted him back a thank you with my email. [email protected].
Sunday the man emails me. ‘Turns out he’s the CEO of the company, covering for staff on phone calls for a busy holiday weekend. Not only did he like the sound of my voice on the cell phone, but he checked out my website, and was writing back with a proposition of barter.
How ’bout I do a few on-call phone menu recordings for his answering service, he said… and he’d supply a knee walker for my wife for as long as she needed?
No insurance company, no paper-trail, no money changing hands…just a simple, old-fashioned arrangement of one value for another. Perfect!
This may be a good time to mention a blog I wrote about this in 2009 called “Your First Audition is Not in the Studio”
Doncha love it when stuff like this happens, though? My wife gets a break, and I get a new client?
CourVO
