Waiting for the Repair Man

The dryer where I live went out late last week. The thing would heat up, but the clothes wouldn't roll around. It was being a bad dryer.

I was the one elected to stay around and wait for the repair man to show up. Someone needed to be here between three and six in the afternoon.

This interfered with my happy hour at Madonna's downtown, but what ya gonna do?

Of course, you know how it goes. At six o’clock the guy still wasn’t here. Hell, I could have gone to Madonna’s after all.

To his credit, the guy did call a little after six saying he was running a bit late. When he did arrive, he was a young guy, really nice and apologized - so my “mad act” quickly disappeared.

It took Roger (that was his name) about five minutes to find and fix the problem: a busted belt.

I asked Roger how long belts last on dryers. He said the busted one on this dryer lasted about 18 years.

The fee was fairly modest (at least for a repair man) and he borrowed my Bic pen to write out the receipt and actually returned it when he was done. I like that in a repair man.

He told me “have a nice day” as he was leaving. I felt like telling him the damn day was over but didn’t. I figured Roger didn’t really need to hear that.

The crisis is over. The dryer is fixed.

Now, will someone please come over and wash and dry my clothes today? I need to make up for lost time at Madonna’s.

- Larry Gross

(Photo from USA Today)

Comments

[Matt]

This is a little better than waiting for the cable guy who NEVER shows up.

[Theresa]

Maybe you should consider drinking less.