My first instinct was to give her a tongue lashing emphasising the many fees and charges that come out of a tradesperson’s hourly rate - such as GST, licences, industry memberships, workshops necessary to maintain their licence and maintain understanding of ever-changing regulations and building codes as well as workers compensation and insurances.

I wanted to highlight the many unpaid hours a tradesman spends quoting, tracking down prices, re-assessing and re-ordering materials when a client decides to change their original plan. Many times tradespeople have to live off loans because a client hasn’t paid a bill, leaving them to carry the brunt of not only their own wages and business expenses, but also the wages of other staff and materials.

Sadly, we live in a society where we falsely think that anyone on the other side of the fence is living in greener pastures. How many times have you heard a person, or even yourself, whinge about the cost of going to the doctor?

But do we then correct ourself and acknowledge that doctor goes through every day responsible for the lives and well-being of others.

They have compromised their family lives by often working around the clock to care for others, they carry expensive medical indemnity insurances to protect themselves against a society of ever-increasing litigation and they continue to pay this insurance long after they have retired and no longer draw an income from their hard-earned skills.

No matter what your career path you are never going to please all the people all the time and there are always people happy to criticise no matter how much commitment or professionalism is demonstrated.