Yeah "hit them with my pressure washer on low" is exactly what my buddy Dave did on a call last month. He was the third guy out there and found the coils packed with dog hair, two minutes of cleaning fixed it. Housewives keep telling him they're scared to touch the fridge so they just call.

Maybe the formulas just work because they tap into how we tell stories naturally.

Eh, $750 is just a cheap lesson. Not exactly a disaster, right?

omg that scheduling around your own workload thing is such a good point. I tried something similar once but for asking about a job follow up. I said "hey I'm free Tuesday afternoon if you want to chat about next steps" and the recruiter actually replied saying that was super considerate. then they ghosted me anyway lol. but I think the mindset shift is what matters, not the exact wording.

Hold up, wait - you're saying the "first drink" thing is just about the rule itself, not what the rule actually does? That seems like a weird way to look at it, idk. I mean, isn't the whole point of having the rule to make sure nobody crosses that line in the first place?