When I walked up to the crawl space pictured above, my stomach dropped. It was debatable whether I could even squeeze my head through the opening.
My first instinct was to walk back to the homeowner and explain that we wouldn’t be able to do the work. I knew our crew would thank me. There was no way a dehumidifier would fit through that opening, for one—and the excuses were justified enough.
But the homeowner was a kind, older lady who hadn’t been able to get anyone else to help her. Her crawl space needed serious work. I could pass it along to the next person, or I could show a little grit and help her out. I wasn’t obligated to do so, but I knew I wouldn’t sleep well if I walked away without trying.
So I took the plunge—partly motivated by a German shepherd that hopped the neighbor’s fence and ran straight toward me. As it turns out, I did fit through after all.
In the end, the homeowner was incredibly grateful and trusted us with the job. We were able to get her crawl space back to a healthy condition. It was a great reminder that choosing the harder path in service of others is always better than taking the easy, selfish one.
