Sentimental old guys

I think yesterday I had my first wistful old guy moment.

A call came in from a fellow I hadn't seen in better than thirty years; I'll call him Cloyce just to give him a name. Back then he worked for Smith Plumbing yet had long since left for a different job.

These days he's the plumber for a nearby school district. For years he hated the drain snake they had. But then through Dame Fortune he stumbled onto one of ours, a genuine Electric Eel Model C exactly like he used at Smith's. It was buried in storage, where Cloyce discovered it looking for something else. Needing a few cutting tools he went to Electric Eel's website and found us. "Marty, it's a voice from the past. I'm Cloyce. I worked at Smith's, remember?"

"In fact I do," I answered. Indeed I remembered his voice quite clearly. "How are you?"

"Good." He explained the situation and when I said I had what he wanted in stock, he came on down.

An hour later he was in the old barn and we were talking old times. "Mr. Smith died awhile back. Drank himself to death unfortunately," Cloyce explained.

"That's sad," I responded sadly. You do hate to hear things like that.

Cloyce's face then noticeably lit up. "Hey, how's your Dad?" he asked expectantly.

"We lost him six years ago last month. June 25th."

"I'm really sorry Marty. I always liked listening to his jokes and stories."

"Thanks. I, I like hearing that," I stammered.

We spent an hour talking about old plumbers, telling each other tales neither of us (I think) had heard before. We talked about old Tiger Stadium and how we both missed it, that we both had good times taking our kids there. He showed me pictures of an old Corvette Stingray he'd bought off Smith's widow. He restored it and was going to sell it. "Too much car for me, but the guy who was first trying to buy it was ripping her off."

It was odd hearing Cloyce's voice coming from the face of a much older man. He maybe thought the same about me. I guess that's how it is when you don't see someone in three decades.

It was a nice visit. "I'm glad you guys are still in it. It was good to see you man," Cloyce was saying as he left.

"Good seeing you too," I said, and I meant it truly.

"I'll be back when I need more stuff."

"Great, thanks." He got into his work truck and was on his way.

I made myself a cup of coffee on my new used Keurig and sat quietly at my desk for a few minutes. After taking a sip when the coffee had cooled a bit I thought, 'Well, the old barn ain't gonna clean itself'. I went back to work.