When I worked as a machinist for a printing company, we always did our
share of favors for people. Springtime brought lawnmowers and weed
whackers, summer brought in motorcycle and boat parts, fall and winter
brought plows and snowblowers. I usually didn't mind the occasional
part I had to make or weld, since we all knew each other, and it
usually resulted in a free soda and a thank you.
I recall one guy who brought a spacer to me one day, for a dual blade
lawnmower. Seems the one blade worked itself loose, and the spacer was
launched to places unknown, so he needed a duplicate. Didn't get to it
that night, as some scheduled job needed to be finished.
The next day I made it to his specifications, and the day after, I
made another, as his way didn't work. As I recall when I checked a few
days after that, I found the part worked, but not only had he carried
it in his lunchbox for three days, he had also previouly driven ten
miles out of his way to go to the John Deere dealer and found that he
didn't want to BUY the part, 'cause they wanted a whopping SIX BUCKS
for it. I didn't even get a thank you or a soda.
Some people are just way too cheap ... and since then I refuse to do
freebies for people who can't perform a service that I may someday
need.

Ron