Some Neighbourly Advice

June 14, 2022 admin 0 Comments

‘We need a… we need a what?’

‘A whole new drain, ma’m,’ our neighbour nodded. He had kind eyes this man – had rushed over into our house as soon as he’d realised there was a flood happening.

‘Are you sure?’ she asked, nervously biting her lip. ‘That seems drastic.’

‘I was a plumber going on fifty years before I retired,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘I’ve never seen anything quite as… drastic as this drain damage.’

‘How do we even find a plumber qualified to do a drain replacement? Melbourne?’ I piped up. My wife briefly shot daggers at me with her eyes, then softened them slightly as she realised she had the same question.

‘Uhh, I’m not sure,’ the plumber frowned. ‘I’ve been out of the game for a while.’

‘Right, right,’ I nodded. ‘Don’t have anyone you could call?’

‘I’ve got a buddy who might know a buddy,’ he eventually conceded. ‘Could be he knows someone.’

‘Thank you,’ my wife beamed up at him. ‘We really appreciate your help.’

‘It’s no problem,’ he smiled back. ‘In fact, I was planning on heading to the pool and getting a few laps in any way!’

He chuckled to himself, but gradually trailed off when he picked up that we weren’t laughing.

‘Still a raw nerve, huh?’

‘It’s been maybe an hour,’ I nodded. ‘So still raw, yeah.’

‘Fair enough,’ he raised his hands in mock surrender. ‘I’ll just say one last thing before I go? Find someone to come out and do your regular drain cleaning. Melbourne is a surprisingly filthy city, and if you don’t find anyone then this problem might happen again.’

‘Our drain could explode again?’ my wife asked, catching his elbow with concern.

‘To be honest, I don’t think so,’ our neighbour frowned. ‘This was pretty freaky. But the flooding? That’s a maybe.’

‘Thank you for your help,’ she sighed. ‘Are you sure I can’t pay you?’

‘What are neighbours for,’ he said with a smile, and let himself out the front door.