The parents of a good friend brought in two bikes for me to work on. One is the old bike of my friend, which has been sitting in a shed for at least ten years. Her mother came in with the bike and a towel, and she was beating the bike with the towel and making clouds of dust. That’s one of the two things I’m allergic to. Now I have a headache and almost a queasy feeling, and I can’t go back out there until the dust settles. My friend’s father brought in a bike that’s never been assembled, still in the box. Less dust, but more spiders, living and dead.

I should charge extra.