Dumb and Plumber

I had a plumber coming to fix my toilet yesterday. Since he said he'd be there at 8:30 in the morning, I set an alarm so I wouldn't miss him. I was so anxious that I would somehow miss the plumber that I woke up at 2 am from a stress dream to go let the plumber in, only to realize in a half sleepwalk state that it was the middle of the night.

8:30 comes and goes. Noon comes and goes. 3 comes, and the plumber still hasn't come. Finally, I call the plumber. He's friendly on the phone, asks for my name and how he can help me. When he discovers that my problem is that I've been stuck in my house for six and a half hours waiting for him, he suddenly says, "I'm at a meeting, I'll call you back in five minutes."

A meeting. He's in a meeting. You know, a plumber meeting. You know how plumbers have meetings? Yeah, that's what he was doing.

Fuck him.

Did he call back in 5 minutes? 10? An hour, even? No, he never calls. But he does show up at 4:15pm - nearly eight hours after he said he'd be there - and when I tell him that it's not a good time because I have to leave soon, he lets himself inside anyway and waves his hands in my face to indicate that my time is unimportant to him, as if that weren't already clear. An hour later he tells me my toilet is fixed and leaves.

Except that my toilet isn't fixed, the water keeps running. Color me disgruntled, but I think this guy needs more plumber training and fewer plumber meetings.