[Avodah] Halachic who is right from "The Lost Scotch"

[Zev Sero]

Micha Berger wrote:

> Nistapkha sadeihu doesn't seem fair to the singer, who turned down jobs.

I wonder if this is another distinction to be drawn.  In the classic
case, can we assume that the day labourer would have found another job,
had he not committed himself to this one?  Perhaps not.  Is there any
record in the gemara of how often a day labourer could expect to find
himself unemployed for a day?  In our case, however, our singer got
actual offers, which he turned down; that would seem to make his loss
more concrete, and perhaps give him a greater entitlement to compensation.

But let's consider another case: what if the entire wedding had to be
called off?  Perhaps the shidduch was cancelled altogether, or perhaps
one of the couple got sick and it had to be postponed, etc.  Such things
happen, and I imagine that people in the wedding industry have learned
from experience (their own or others) to draw up standard contracts that
include provision for such an occurrence.  (In fact, I'd call this a
case of poel yodea uBHB eino yodea, similar to a case when the BHB just
bought the farm and has no experience with this river, while the worker
is an old hand, who knows the river's moods and habits well.)

I imagine that if this singer does any reasonable amount of wedding
business his standard contract provides for how much he is to be paid
if his services turn out not to be required for any reason.  And that
provision would equally govern what happens in our case.

-- 
Zev Sero               Something has gone seriously awry with this Court's
zev at sero.name          interpretation of the Constitution.
                       	                          - Clarence Thomas