#relatable stories

This work is written by Linn Skåber and illustrated by Lisa Aisato, published in the Norwegian book “Til Ungdommen”. I only translated it for your enjoyment. More info and master list here! 

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I’m getting a D in Norwegian  But an A in cheering over the fact that it’s not an F

I’m getting a D in German  But an A in believing I’ll do better next time 

I’m getting a D in Math But an A in comforting Jenny because she got a C 

I’m getting a D in English  But an A for being excited to tell my mom and dad that I did better than the last time 

I’m getting a D in Arts and Crafts  But an A in celebrating it sitting in the sun with a cold coke 

I’m getting a D in Social Studies  But an A in being happy because it’s spring, and I might fall in love soon 

I’m getting a D in Spanish  But an A in being a teenager and not being burned out

Isn’t that a decent GPA to enter summer with, though? 

My gods I couldn't have been any more wrong (well I was right at the wlw content).

It was much more serious than I anticipated and focused on the main character's mental health instead of their sex life. The book spoke to me on so many levels and I could relate with the main character so much. It's been a while since I've read something that made me feel things this hard...

So picture this: I’m juggling calls, sprinting between jobs, and wondering why my bank account looks like a sink that refuses to fill up.

Spoiler: It wasn’t the customers. It wasn’t the work. It was… my pricing. Yes. I was the problem. 😭

Turns out “this feels fair” is NOT an actual pricing strategy. It’s more like a slow and emotional financial collapse.

So I sat down one night with coffee, a calculator, and the sudden fear of bankruptcy… and finally built a real plumbing labor price list.

What I learned (and laughed at later)

Hourly rates without math = chaos

Flat rates without a plan = even bigger chaos

Overhead is not “just vibes”

Only half your day is billable because driving exists

And profit is not a luxury it’s oxygen

I always thought plumbers lost money from leaks. But no, sometimes we leak money because we forget to charge enough for crawling under a house at 7 AM.

The Glow-Up

Once I actually calculated my real labor rate (with overhead, real hours, and the sad truth of admin time), everything changed.

Quotes made sense. Customers understood the pricing. And I finally stopped donating labor to the community like some sort of Plumbing Santa.

💬 Moral of the story

If your pricing is based on “gut feeling,” your business will have… well… a gut ache.

Build a price list. Use real numbers. Charge for your time, skill, and the emotional trauma of unclogging things no human should ever see. 🙃