The Excited Plumber

In Santa Elena we had a plumber who was excellent. He really knew his stuff, such as how quickly to add acid to a pipe so that it wouldn't eat the pipe. He was also very slow, but he learned this during his day job working for the local government's water department.

He was amazed at every little advancement in technology and especially anything remotely "Gringo." For example, one day he asked to borrow my plunger while working on a drain problem. When he returned it to me, he said, "You brought this from the States didn't you?" "I knew it, you just can't buy plungers like that one here. It's high quality." It is actually the normal wood and rubber one you can buy cheap anywhere in the States, but he loved it. Anybody want to start a plunger import business?

Another day, after taking him to the hardware store to buy some necessary parts, I hit the garage door opener. This was the only house here we'd been in that had one. He saw me hit the button and then saw the door start to swing out. His response (in a very excited tone) : "Isn't technology wonderful? We've come so far as a country. Now you can just hit a button and the door opens just like that. Imagine that."

Take joy in the little things...