The Very Handy Man

Our heroes in white pickup trucks.

Aug 26, 2023

He is one of a dying breed, the man who knows how to fix things, an able man with hands-on skills. He is nuts and bolts, hammer and saw, pliers and pipe. If it’s broken, he can fix it. Whether it is carpentry or plumbing, electrical or mechanical, he’s got you covered.

He rescues his neighbor at three in the morning when the water heater springs a scalding leak, and then he comes back before noon with a brand new one to install. He can replace your faulty light switches, lay a laminate floor, re-tile your backsplash. As you can imagine, he has a lot of friends.

You should see his workshop. This hero has every type of rasp and file, drawers full of assorted wrenches, screwdrivers and pliers. He has all the C-clamps he could possibly need, but he says you can never have too many of those.

Photo courtesy of Alexander Schimmeck at Unsplash.com

My own personal hero chose not to go to college. He is a plumber, a skilled journeyman and is never out of work. He knows his math and uses geometry every day, and is smart enough to measure twice and cut once. He can change out a bathroom sink for you in thirty-minutes, put in a drip line on a timer to automatically water your garden, and still be home in time for happy hour. Do you know a guy like this? Lucky you!

Photo courtesy of Jesse Orrico at Unsplash.com

In one day’s work, my master-of-all-trades can put new hinges on a gate, shore up a broken fence post, solder a cracked tea-kettle, set new rivets in the door of an old mailbox, repair a shelf, refit a doorknob. It is not going into the landfill if he has anything to say about it!

Here is the worry, though: this kind of man, the man who can do stuff, seems to be harder to find these days. Young men are choosing technology over the trades – choosing to sit and look at screens all day instead of getting their hands on a pipe wrench or a band saw. I wonder if they ever consider how essential a competent plumber is? Try living with a broken toilet for half a day, or with the absolute hell of an non-working stove.

Here’s to all the conscientious commercial tradespeople! Hurray for the handy men and women! Thanks for a job well done and for coming to the rescue. I sing this song of praise especially to my own personal heroes, men of amazing native abilities, whose skills are, apparently, limitless. The men who always show up ready to help, sleeves rolled up. They value doing a job right and finishing what they start. Thanks!