Owning an out-of-the-ordinary wristwatch is a lot like owning an out-of-the-ordinary car. When it needs a new battery, you can't just go to Batteries R Us and plunk in a new one. No: you have to go to a Special Craftsperson at a Special Shop.
So the other morning I called my watch guy, who is on the Main Line, to see if he was open.
When he answered, I said cheerfully, "Great! You're there!"
"I'm really not taking any new work," he said -- rather baldly, I thought.
"Oh!" said I, startled.
"What was it you needed?" he asked.
I explained, and grudgingly he agreed that he could just find time to put a new battery in.
Before he could change his mind, I got in the car and headed out through the teeming rain. It was an eventful trip. Route 842 between Unionville and West Chester was on the verge of flooding. Lancaster Avenue in downtown Wayne was completely shut down due to a restaurant fire AND a car crash. Emergency guys in yellow rain slickers directed traffic onto the little side streets.
Finally I reached the watch guy's shop and announced myself as the woman who had phoned earlier.
"Good," he said. "Now I can lock the door."
He sat down at his workbench and started taking the watch apart but accidentally dropped two of the tiny screws on the floor. Beyond vexed with himself -- and, I suspect, me -- he sent me away, telling me he'd have to keep the watch for a few days.
To my great surprise, by the time I'd reached Berwyn he called and said he'd managed to find the screws -- they'd rolled under the counter -- and my watch was ready.
I made a U-turn and plunged back into the Wayne detours for the third time! I picked up the watch and paid him his $20 (plus tax), and he looked up at me and said, "Bon après-midi, mademoiselle."
He may be temperamental, but I like this guy.
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