On one occasion when I was discussing car maintenance with a friend, he recommended someone he knew who had a small repair business in his own garage.
So, needing a malfunctioning part replaced on an older car, I thought I would give this small shop entrepreneur a try.
The two-car garage door was open, and the owner was busy at a bench tinkering with something when I drove up. After explaining the nature of the problem, he said, “We can fix that right now.” I was delighted!
He went about his task, making small talk all the time as I watched him work his magic, reaching for one tool, then another. His hands bore the scars of many battles with sticking carburetors, worn clutches, squeaky brakes, and leaky radiators, but I noticed that the garage floor was clean, painted concrete, not a grease spot in sight.
It’s a good thing, too, because at one point, when he was looking for a certain kind and size of sheet metal screw, he pulled a gallon jar from a shelf, knelt, and proceeded to pour its contents of various bolts, nuts, washers, and screws out in the middle of the floor.
After two or three seconds of finger sorting, he said, “Here we go!” and finished up the job. I gladly gave him a twenty dollar bill in exchange for his receipt, knowing that the same repair at the local dealership would have cost two or three times that amount, and would have taken all morning.
A few months later, I took the same car back for a different kind of repair. I had to smile when he needed a certain bolt, screw, or nut, and he once again emptied half the contents of the gallon jar out onto the dust-free garage floor and quickly found what he needed.
There is no moral to this story, except noting that while his system worked for him, another mechanic would have been searching in a carefully organized set of clear plastic drawers in a steel cabinet.
And maybe also the observation that one man’s quirk can be another man’s annoyance, even though God made both kinds of people, and they really can enjoy their differences if they keep that in mind.
“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to us.”
Romans 12:6