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| Our beautiful new faucet. |
One night while making dinner, I had turned on the sink to wash
some vegetables. Careful now, I reminded myself as I lifted the handle from its down
position. Slow and steady, easy does it.
Little by little, the water trickled out. I continued to bring the current on
stronger. More and more water flowed out
of the spicket, down on to the stainless steel tub, and into the drain. I had finally reached maximum water
flow. YES! I thought with a maniac laugh, It’s working!
Within seconds, the faucet dislodged itself from the basin and erupted
into the air, landing on the floor beside me.
Water gushed out of the hole where the faucet used to be, just like it
had happened so many times before. My hair was sopping wet, my shirt
soaked, and our floor flooded. Drats.
Another battle lost.
I decided it was time to fix the kitchen sink. It's embarrassing to tell you how easy it was
to get a repair man, but what’s most appalling is how long I can avoid a task
that takes less than 5 minutes of time and promises a world full of fewer
struggles.
I didn’t miss a beat. The
next day, I met with our caretaker and gave her a note in Chinese characters:
Our sink
is broken. 我们的水槽被打破了。
Empowered, I went back home to browse the web. Not more than 30 minutes later, I was
interrupted by a knock on the door. Outside stood an older gentleman
holding the piece of paper I had given our caretaker. He must be the
fix-it man. I motioned for him to come
in and held up the faucet so he could see. With a few reassuring head
shakes, he dialed a number on his cell phone.
When finished with
his conversation, he looked at me and conversed in Chinese. I hardly
understood him, but in context, I realized he didn’t have the parts to fix it,
but someone would be bringing them. I
offered him some water and a place to sit on the sofa. I turned on the
television, left the remote near him on the coffee table, and went back to the
computer.
After a few seconds of watching the program, he picked up the
remote and began flipping through channels. A dramatic soap opera, the
Asia Channel, Discovery, MTV, all the while I was checking Facebook
updates. A few moments later, I thought I heard his laughter. I
looked up and noticed Wipeout,
a newer game show where people are sent through ridiculous obstacles
courses, like jumping across a line of large rubber balls raised high in
the air over a pool of water, all the while contestants are trying
to avoid the padded, moving bars that helicopter over their path.
We sat and watched it together, laughing as people plummeted into
shaving cream and pools of water when they failed to get past certain hurdles.
It was then that his phone rang. I was too entranced in the show to
try and understand his conversation. He hung up and began watching the
show again.
Sooner than we knew it, Wipeout
ended. He stood up from the couch, placed his cell phone in his
pocket, and waved goodbye saying in Chinese that he would be back tomorrow.
I saw him out, and as I closed the door, I smiled thinking--he wasn't waiting at all. His second phone call was
probably his buddy telling him he would get the parts tomorrow. But, he decided to stay a few extra minutes to see the end of
Wipeout.
It really made my day. It was a neat experience for me to
share an English television show with a person who has probably never met
a foreigner in his life. Well, I guess this goes to show that there are many things that
can unite people of different cultures together, like a show about people
hurting themselves for a chance at $50,000.
Wipeout:
I know that in many Asian countries that these kind of shows are very popular. Here is a game show Chitrak and I watched while waiting in line in a Chinese store.
I Survived a Japanese Game Show:
