It’s always nice to make connections in the most unexpected places. And it makes it all the more special when the connection comes out of a problem that you have encountered.

In my apartment, the owner put in a brand new washing machine just before I arrived. In fact it had never been used before. 


I should have known better than to leave after putting a load in, because you guessed it, I came home to a big problem. First, I could not open the bathroom door because it was blocked by the new washing machine. The machine had moved during the spin cycle blocking the door from opening. There were a few minutes of panic; how was I going to fix this problem? Lord knows I needed the washing machine and the bathroom. 


Well, I took a couple of deep breaths and with some patience and maneuvering I was able to get the door unblocked. That was, however, not the real problem. There was the water all over the floor, and lots of it. The hose on the back of the machine had come loose and disconnected from the wall. I cleaned up everything and washed the unfinished clothes by hand.

Obviously I had to call the landlord. I was a bit nervous as she is just a little uptight with all the new items she has bought for this place, yet thankfully she called the plumber right away. We set up a time for the following day and I went about my business.

When the plumbers arrived I was a bit intimidated by the indifferent looks on their face. Wow, they certainly looked like the stereo typical Italian workers in sleeveless shirts and dirty jeans - with calloused hands and the distinct appearance of hard working men. When they started to fix the machine I tried to stay out of the way, but I was barraged with questions.

In their incredibly thick accents they began asking a lot of questions; where are you from, what do you do, why are you here, how long will you stay… and so on.

They were much more interested in me then their faces led me to believe.

When the head plumber put a load of laundry in and started it there was some time where we just had to wait to see if the hose indeed was secure. That was when the surprise came. He asked me to take a photo of his co-worker.

I certainly was neither expecting that nor what followed. I think when they asked me for a photo they had the impression I was going to take a photo in the hall leading to the bathroom, but now I was the boss and on my own territory.

I took the lead and told the plumber where to stand. I popped off a few photos and since he was photogenic I only needed to shoot four photos before I said…got it (in Italian of course). Still knowing this was my game I told the head plumber to get over to the window so I could take a picture of him. I don’t know why he was reluctant since it was his idea to begin with, but it didn’t take much coaxing to get him smiling and posing.

From that moment on they had lost that intimidating look and now had large smiles on their faces and laughed with me as they watched me work on the photos in Photoshop. We laughed some more and they asked more questions before they cleaned up and got ready to go. In incredibly typical Italian fashion they did not finish the job; evidently they needed one more part to complete everything. We made plans to meet up the following day so they could finish.  

Out of a frustrating situation I made a very nice connection will the locals and had another moment where I was LivingLifesBest. I look forward to laughing with them tomorrow and give them a copy of their photos. I do hope that I do not have anymore surprises that involve broken things, but if I do I now have faith that I might make another connection with someone in the most unlikely situation.