Have you ever been spoon-fed spaghetti sauce by a stranger in their own kitchen? I have. In fact I’ve been fed many meals in customers’ homes over the years, and when I think back on all my years doing Energy Audits, both in Massachusetts and Maryland, I can’t help but remember all the generous homeowners who invited me to share a meal with them during the appointment.

 

When I first started doing Energy Audits, I was working in the North Shore region of Massachusetts, doing 2 or 3 Energy Audits a day, often spending several hours with customers in their home. The appointment times conveniently lined up pretty well with meal times too – 8 am, 11:30, and 3 pm.

 

In the morning it was not uncommon to be offered coffee or tea, along with the occasional pastry or breakfast cookie. The homeowner and I would sit at the kitchen table and discuss their energy efficiency goals, and any comfort issues they were having in the house. This allowed me to really focus on what they really wanted to get out of my expertise and time there. At lunch time, I’d usually be doing my paperwork for their home, or inputting their data into my laptop. By then I’d been army crawling through their attics and crawlspaces, running up and down the stairs several times over checking the bathroom fans, combustion equipment, insulation, you name it. At the end of the 3 pm appointment, the same thing would happen - and if the house was especially big it would usually mean I wrapped up the appointment around 6 pm - just in time for dinner :)

 

It was through these Energy Audits and through the generosity of so many awesome customers that I was exposed to foods I had never heard of before. I ate Ethiopian injera for the first time, which is a tangy and spongy flatbread that you both eat and use as a utensil instead of a fork. I learned about the colorful and delicious world of bite-sized Indian sweets (called mithai). And I even made new friends over Lady Grey tea, which was something else I had never heard of (also - hi Carla!).

 

So, while not all of my customers spoon-fed me…that was really just the one time, I swear… I can say for certain that any customer who was generous enough to share their food and time with me has left an impact. It probably sounds a little cheesy (pun not intended), but it was those Energy Audits and experiences that reminded me that people are caring, and they’re mostly good. And if you were one of those customers who gave me a bite to eat and you happen to be reading this now - I want to say thank you! It meant a lot to me.