130 Johnny Pipes
So you think plumbers make a lot of money? Listen to this! Gianni P. of The
Good money in plumbing.
They call him Johnny Pipes. He says that is a slur against ordinary citizens of Italian lineage, which he calls “Italian abstraction.” They call him Johnny Pipes because he is the Michelangelo of plumbers. You need a bathroom, a kitchen, maybe a basement sink? You need something that leads from the house to the sewer? Johnny’s the guy to call. He’ll make it work beautifully and better yet, what you look at when you look at it is a work of art.
His shop’s still in the old neighborhood. Doesn’t get a lot of calls from the new one. But those who DO call are always happy. Johnny wouldn’t have it any other way. Art. Not just plumbing, but ART.
Last year, Johnny took in maybe as much as his house cost. And most of the time he works alone.
The apartments in the
And he keeps unusual hours.
He’s in at maybe five or
So how does this guy pull down a million bucks in a year, buy a house in
Art. Industrial art.
Johnny Pipes has a sideline and it’s a pretty good one. He’s in there at
These are not for the kitchen, bathroom, basement or sewer.
These screw on the fronts of handguns. Makes them more efficient, in a way.
All that stuff in the pipe does slow the bullet down a tad if the gun is fired. That’s not the efficient part. The efficient part is when you fire the thing, it doesn’t usually make enough noise to disturb the neighbors.
Not only is he an artist, he’s a CONSIDERATE artist.
These efficiency gizmos, he calls “sculpture.” His customers call them “silencers” which Johnny doesn’t much care for. Why? Because you still hear something of a “pop” when the thing’s used. It isn’t right to call it “silent” when it’s just “quiet.”
An artist, and an honest one at that. No false advertising here.
Art like this is expensive. It’s hard to find. And the market is excellent. Booming, in fact.
I'm Wes Richards, my opinions are my own, but you're welcome to them.
(c) 2006 WJR