Shoutout to the old timer at Ace Hardware who saved my plumbing job

Was trying to fix a leaky kitchen sink faucet last Saturday. Spent 45 minutes wrestling with a compression nut. Guy walks over, maybe 70 years old, and says "you need a basin wrench, son." I didn't even know what that was. He showed me which one to buy, $18. Had the job done in 10 minutes. Has anyone else had a random stranger just solve your whole problem like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

miles_jackson917h ago

Heard some old timer say "experience is just a word for having tried all the wrong ways first" and that sounds about right. That guy probably saved you from a flooded kitchen floor haha.

amy3028h ago

Actually that quote kind of bugs me a little (sorry, I know it's supposed to be funny). Experience isn't just about messing up over and over. It's more about learning what works so you don't have to reinvent the wheel every time. Like yeah, trying wrong ways is part of it, but good experience also comes from watching someone else do it right or getting handed down tips that actually save you time. The old timer probably had a few tricks up his sleeve from years of not flooding kitchens, you know? It's not all about failures, there's a lot of trial and error that ends in success too. I'd say experience is more like a shortcut library your brain builds over time.