The Curious Crow’s encounter with Charles the Ceiling Fan Guy

Last week during a visit to my library’s community bulletin board, the following business card caught my eye.

Something so shockingly specific demanded a follow-up, so after plucking the last card from the tray I emailed Mr. Rayburn. ‘What is it that you do and what are you looking for?’ I asked. Could a man really make a living (or even a hobby) out of selling just ceiling fan arms? Wouldn’t that get a little…boring?

Mr. Rayburn, who refers to himself as ‘Charles the Ceiling Fan Guy,’ replied within the hour to say that he not only buys blade arms (for $1 each) but also blade sets for $4.

So, good, he deals in blade arms and blade sets. At least he enjoyed a little variety. But was that really it? This man seemed so passionate about ceiling fans, maybe he could repair them, too.

I asked.

‘I’ve been selling ceiling fan parts on eBay for 13 years,’ he replied, ‘so that people can fix their own fans. Must have saved thousands of fans from premature disposal.’

That is definitely something to crow about. And I’m not being sarcastic. Fixing old things is way better than buying new ones, so I’m 100% on board with Charles’ mission.

Charles ended his email with his eBay handle; Crateguycharles, so I checked his eBay store. Turns out he sells not only arms and blades, but (among other things) grommets and arm screws too.

I wrote back to suggest – nicely – with a 😊 emoji, that he consider changing his business card to ‘Buyer of Ceiling Fan Parts.’ After sending my email, I wished I’d thought to recommend that he print his eBay handle on his card as well.

Several days have passed, and I still haven’t heard back from Mr. Rayburn. Since his first two replies came so quickly, I don’t think I will.

Oh well. Taking advice can be hard, especially when it’s coming from random internet whackos. But as the Department of Homeland Security tells us, ‘if you see something, say something,’ and that’s what I did.

We really do need people in our lives who’ll faithfully point out our blind spots, don’t we? Of course it’s better if they’re from our circle of trust, but sometimes even random internet whackos can provide a useful nudge.

Mr. Rayburn’s ‘call to arms’ against premature ceiling fan disposal is worthy of our support. Perhaps all he needs are a few changes to his marketing approach, and one day he’ll be crowned ‘Charles the Ceiling Fan King.’