Mr. Fix -It - from Alexandra

Mr. Fix-It

     Here in the country, people are not easily impressed. One of the popular bumper stickers on cars and trucks around reads “We’ll keep our cowshit in the country. You keep your bullshit in the city.” Fancy titles, qualifications and letters before or after your name mean very little to most. People do treat you with default respect and kindness, no matter who you are or what you do. Any knowledge you have is, of course, worthy of respect. However, if you can do something that people can see, can relate to, and help someone in real, immediate need, you slowly start to earn a reputation. Then it can become a bit of a pressure thing. It can be hard to live up to, consistently over a long period of time. But if you do that too, people are truly impressed with you and give you a nickname and it is then, that you have arrived! It can be bit hard to shake it off, I suppose, but it also gives you a chance to give back to the community from the best of your strengths and skills. You are accepted with your all your traits and valued. The feeling that it generates is, perhaps, what keeps one going.

     If you claim you are an engineer, people will look at what you can put together, what you can design, what you can fix. If you work with electricity, they would like to see what you can fix, set up and run that everyone can see and use. If one is a ‘computer engineer’ like me, they would like to see what I can set up or fix that they have problems with. Claiming esoteric knowledge of the data structures, algorithms or the internals of the circuit design etc., will bring out nods of polite interest, but if you fix someone’s pump, tractor, car, the mower, the radio, or TV or computer, or shed wiring, that they have problems with you get more genuine appreciation and respect. You will get a beer or basket of fruits and, over the long term, an appellation. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that we don’t have highly qualified people around Alex.  Many folk come here to retire and keep in touch with their prior skills and training. They tend to work at different levels to give the best of themselves to the community, working on the immediate needs of real people.

     I met a couple of such persons - engineers who have worked on sophisticated missiles for the military in their professional life and you could not tell by looking at the kindly old men on the school committee or the bowling team.

     One day at the library, as I was sitting in on a gathering of local booklovers, I met a man who had earned the name of “Mr. Fix-it.” He is unassuming, friendly and evidently well known. He had a salt-and-pepper short beard, just like the one I was sporting myself. His beard seemed a regular, well maintained one; while mine was just a phase of being ‘too busy with other stuff’ (read as ‘laziness’).  We were introduced by the librarian - this was James Scott. He said ‘Hello’ and we waved to each other anytime we met. One day at the primary school fete, this charming, friendly, spirited woman - James’s better half – Frances, walked up to me and invited me to visit her and James. At that time, I was overflowing with pears from my tree and saw the opportunity to give some away as well as to get to know them. I accepted. Of course, the visit ended with my coming back more loaded inside and out with more fruits and veggies than the little I drove up with! I also tucked into a good, large serving of Frances’s kindness and biscuits. Note to self – need to get her recipes for those biscuits!

     Frances and James live on a hilly rise overlooking the town and other hills around. Their garden produces the some real big pumpkins, tomatoes, pears and much more.  Frances is James’s anchor and together, they give back much to the community- driving a Red Cross van or help run a book store to fund the library among other things. The seniors are great in Australia. For them, most fun activities are combined or intertwined with some service to the community – the bowling club might have an activity to raise funds for the Rotary Club or for the meals-on-wheels program (delivering meals to people unable to cook) or the local hospital.

     If there is anything complex or too difficult to fix around town, they call in James at some point. His reputation precedes him. Keeps him busy too! Now I too can find someone to talk rocketry and local gardening with in the same conversation.