Jesse the Pool Guy Meets Richard the Service Guy

Bob Deakin
Oct 3
3 min read

Updated: Oct 14

Jesse the Pool Guy

Chapter 4

Jesse the pool guy is a pool technician. You can call him a pool cleaner, maintenance technician, pool attendant, or whatever your region dictates. He’s the eyes and ears of the pool company.

Jesse likes his job and brings a great attitude to work every day. But today is different. The service manager has asked Jesse to ride with Richard, Smart Pools’ long-time service technician, to a large estate. Any service tech would be lucky to have Jesse.

Not Richard.

Jesse the Pool Guy Meets Richard the Service Guy

Service techs show disdain for pool guys. Like gardeners vs. landscapers, they resent those doing the routine. Stereotypes don’t apply to all, but Richard the service guy owns this one, topped with a bad attitude.

Jesse organizes his truck each day before he leaves. Smart Pools is lucky if Richard turns his off. He arrives late each morning, gets briefed on his schedule, and gossips for twenty minutes with Kathy the service dispatcher.

A half hour after preparing his truck with chemicals and tools, Richard is ready again. He complains about everything, including allergies, the apparent reason for his bloodshot eyes.

Just One More Stop

The guys are rolling as Jesse makes conversation to break the ice. Ten minutes down the road, since he has no gas, Richard pulls into a Wawa. Other Smart Pools service guys have also pulled in and are in a long line for coffee and breakfast.

It’s 9 am and they are nowhere near their destination. On a normal day, Jesse is on his way to his third customer. But he goes with the flow and acts like one of the guys. A half hour later, they head out.

The dash in Richard’s truck is covered in paper, clipboards, empty wrappers, and tools. With each turn the collection slides. There is a phone in the middle with the volume cranked. Kathy is constantly checking in and Richard screams back his replies.

Meet Jesse the Service Guy

The job is to replace the pump at a large pool. Jesse lets Richard direct him and carries the heavy equipment. Richard looks at the old pump, turns to the new, then back. He grabs his saw and starts cutting the intake and return pipes. Jesse assumed Richard would measure first, but he’s got this.

Moments later, Richard swears and throws equipment while Jesse tries to help. He can see that Richard didn’t leave enough pipe to connect the new pump. Richard yells at him to drive back to the office for more piping and chemicals. Jesse keeps his cool and heads out.

Be a Jesse, Don’t Be a Richard

“I can’t wait to get out of this f…ing place!” Kathy’s voice blares from the dashboard, catching Jesse off guard. “First round’s on me!”

“Thanks Kathy,” he responds. “This is Jesse. I’m bringing Richard’s truck back to the shop for some parts.”

“Oh! Sorry Jesse. Richard okay?”

“He just needs some extra pipe,” he says, covering for his teammate, knowing he wasn’t prepared.

It’s a first in Jesse’s short career at Smart Pools: Working side-by-side with a teammate with a bad attitude. When the unexpected happens, you want a Jesse on your team, not a Richard.

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