Business is Booming

Russ and I don’t ever go to the Mall, except when it is time to buy an new Apple product. So the last time we were at the Mall was last year when one of us, I think me, got a new I-Pad.

Earlier in the summer we were up in the mountains with our friends Jan and Rex. Russ was wearing one of his favorite watches. And as he was crossing] the street in West Jefferson his watch fell off his wrist. He picked it up and looked at it and realized a pin in the metal watch band had fallen out. We looked everywhere for it, but a silver pin does not show up on concrete. So we were without luck.

Once home Russ looked up watch repair and there are very few places that actually repair watches, mostly they just change batteries. The one he did find was a kiosk in the mall. He brought them the watch and it turned out Russ had not just lost a pin, but a whole link in the band. The only way to fix it was to order an new watch band, but Russ had to do that from the watch manufacturer.

It took a few months to arrive, and finally it came. We made a return visit to the watch man at the mall. I have never seen such a busy kiosk. Usually people who run those kiosks are desperate for anyone to stop at them and feign the slightest bit of interest in their hair extensions, or iPhone covers, or rare Korean beauty cream.

That was not the case at the watch and jewelry repair man. He took Russ’s watch and new band and told us it would be 30 minutes. So we walked the mall. That was the worst part. Nothing was interesting. I convinced Russ we should look at the Nordstrom sale for him. Nothing.

We returned to the kiosk where there was constantly a line. We were told another half hour. We walked more. Dick’s sporting goods has a giant store where Sears used to be! We walked it. Back at the watch man. Thirty more minutes. He eventually finished it. Russ was paying, but it was taking a long time. The woman who ran the cash register was telling Russ how burnt out she is after 42 years working there. She said young people have no manners.

I wanted to say, “You all have the most business of anyone in the whole mall, and the place was packed, but not like that kiosk.” I think fixing perfectly good things that just need a repair is a good business. I wish more people knew how to fix things, like lawn mowers and vacuums and sewing machines and watches.

It was a little bit of a pain, but the watch holds sentimental value and he likes wearing it. Now he can again. I hope this pin holds. The new band probably costs more than the original watch did.