The Tile Guys

It's a leap of faith to hire unknown workers to do jobs inside your home and then leave your home with those workers inside it. I took such a leap today when three young men in their twenties arrived to tile our bathroom. They were polite and friendly, and had been hired by our contractor--why worry? All seemed in order and I left for work. When I stopped back home for a quick lunch, I reflected upon the wisdom of that decision.

I entered the kitchen and found what looked like a setup for either a TV game show or a high school science experiment. There was a huge bucket in the sink, filled to the top and overflowing with water. The faucet was turned on and buried deep inside the bucket. The bucket all but filled the sink and covered the drain, so the sink had filled up to the brim with water. In approximately 30 seconds, by my estimation, the water would overflow the sink and flow directly onto my made-it-myself hand-painted canvas floorcloth, which, once flooded, would never flatten out ever again for the rest of time.

I surveyed the scene, shut off the faucet and yelled for the workers. "Hey guys!" was the best I could do. No response. Loud music coming from the second floor bathroom, where the work was taking place. "Hello, what's going on?" I called again. Nobody. Finally, one of the lads strolled in and, obviously surprised to see me, said, "Hey, what's up?" Then he saw the situation and said, "Oh shit, I guess somebody forgot to turn off the water. Good thing you came back."

Yeah. Good thing.  Just this morning, someone told me there is no such thing as coincidence--it's just God working anonymously. (FYI, the tiles came out great.)