June 23, 2009

The Plumber

I have been out of Holland for a long time now, so I wouldn’t really know about the technical know-how of your average repair man, but I can tell you plenty about the technical know-how of some technicians in this place. Here’s an example.

When I walk into the upstairs bathroom this morning, I step in a puddle of water. I look around. It is dry around the toilet, but wet around the sink, so obviously there must be something leaking around the sink. I check the tabs. I check the pipes, but I see no water dripping. It’s got to be somewhere complicated, and so I call the plumber.

He shows up.

He checks the tabs. He checks the pipes. And he has a verdict.

When you wash your hands (and he opens the tabs and washes his hands to prove his point), water spills over to the top of the sink, and then drops down. That’s where the water comes from.”

I look at him. The old aunt looks at him. We look at each other. Is this guy serious?

Nobody washed his hands during the night in this bathroom. And yet, there is water,” says the aunt, “go explain that.”
Besides,” I add, “I’ve been living in this house 16 years now. And this is the first time it has happened. So you’re telling me we never ever washed our hands here?”

Well, then where is it from?” he says a little irritated.

Now who’s the plumber here?” asks the aunt. “You or me?”

6 comments:

BabaGannouj said...

hahahahahahahaha

typical lebanese.
did he tell you "walaw madame, inno darrisa barra ana!" ?

walaw madame, i studied this outside, meaning outside of lebanon. and thus an automatic expert.

hehe.

Anonymous said...

So how come they keep the old Ford running then? Y.

Unknown said...

Don´t worry. If you have a plumber in Holland currently, he would paint a wet ceiling in the bathroom and tell you to wait until the next rain shower to see whether it´s getting wet again and the heavy rain is the problem.
Then, when you come back from one week of holidays (like we yesterday), you find yourself on the toilet getting a wet back from above - although it hadn´t been raining.

zerolando said...

Learn to wash your hands properly !! (just kidding)

Unknown said...

I am in the US and we had a plumber come one day last year for a bathroom leak that was dripping down into my office below and he said that when we took showers we were getting too much water outside the tub. After three years in this house I guess we decided to start taking excessively wet showers! Plumbers must all go to the same international school of excuses.

Paula

Damien Green said...

Plumbers are of course a good option for people who need help fixing their toilet leak, sink, or faucet.