August 26, 2003
Setup guy
I went to the hardware store to see about repairing the faucet over the kitchen sink. It wouldn’t stop dripping. It is a one-handle, swivel model.
I asked a salesman if he was in charge of plumbing. “I’ve bumped my head a few times,” he said, making me feel right at home. I told him about the problem with the faucet, that it was a kind I’d never worked on before (aside: actually, most of them are).
He very patiently walked me through the steps to repair it, illustrating his lecture with the parts he proposed to sell me. I said, “I guess I should turn off the water before I start working on the faucet?” He said, “Unless you’re a sporting man.”
We went through the process once more. I said, “Then when I finish, I turn on the water?” He said, “And receive a hero’s welcome.”
Maybe it’s a kind of ministry … being the setup guy for somebody else’s punch lines.