True, you gave me my big break. But does that mean I owe you for life?

Cheskel: I know I owe You a debt of gratitude, but at what cost to me?

Shlomo: I turned you into the most popular plumber in the community — and now i have to pay your premium rates?

Cheskel

The first call of the morning came in before 7 a.m. A burst pipe, flooding in the kitchen, a panicked mother, house in disarray. In the background, I could hear the usual commotion — little kids, still in pajamas, probably slipping and sliding around as their mother tried frantically to put breakfast together on the stairs.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” I said briskly, tucking my phone back into my pocket. There was a reason I always davened vasikin; a plumber’s day starts early.

Mrs. Halb hovered anxiously as I shut the water valve and took a look under the sink. The problem was easy to spot: an old fitting, a weak joint, and there — the burst pipe. Now, the cabinet beneath the pipe is flooded, and water has probably leaked into the basement below, too.

First things first: I got to work on removing the damaged section of the pipe and replacing it with a new pipe part and fitting. Then, I tested the rest of the joints — some of them looked almost ready to give out, and needed replacing as well.

I was wrapping things up when another call came in; it was Ezzy Fishman, manager of Bagel Basket, a local café.

“Cheskel? Oh, good, you picked up. We have a plumbing issue here, clogged toilet. Can you come by?”

I checked the time; I had several clients lined up that day. There was a custom rainfall shower installation, a consult with a contractor for the plumbing layout of a new office building, and an inspection for someone who had called worried that their pipes had corroded and were causing discoloration of the water. And that was aside from the regular emergency calls that came in all the time.

I could fit Bagel Basket in before the shower installation, though.

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” I told Ezzy.