Life Lessons Outside the Classroom

Man alive is it already time for another Finish the Sentence Friday? Yikes. Today’s sentence prompt is “I’m done with school but …”

I’m done with school but …

…  not really. I’m still learning. Everyday. Yes life lessons outside the classroom are a constant in my life. These are gems I’ve experienced, not just read about in a book. The ones I learn the most from are the unexpected ones. The ones that slam me sideways, knock me over and jolt me upright.

Regular readers will be aware of a few of my life lessons outside the classroom. One of my particular horror stories highlights has to be the time my son forgot to pack the most important item and we had to miss a ferry and go back home to get it. Immediately.

“Who Me?”

What did I learn from that nightmare life lesson outside the classroom? Take nothing for granted

Another gem was the time we spotted a paler than pale, starkers as the day he was born fellow walking down the street. In broad daylight.

You get the idea …

What did I learn from that visual horror interesting visual? Expect the unexpected.

And of course there was that time we came across a flickering bush fire that had the potential to grow into a raging forest fire. 

Just think if we’d not come upon this in time …

What was the lesson learned here? The importance of attacking things early.

Life Lessons Outside the Classroom

One of the most important life lessons outside the classroom that I have learned is that good honest people do still exist in this world. They turn up, do their job and more. Their efforts leave you speechless.

The one that immediately comes to mind happened to me a good 15 years ago. Let me set the scene.

It started with an innocent comment from my three-year old son.

“Mommy, look! A river!”

Not to worry we lived miles from any river, lake or pool. It was the middle of July and a lovely hot Summer’s day. Naturally we had a million things on our to-do list and  no time for silliness. I impatiently looked in his direction. This is the kind of water my lad was talking about:

A pulsating gush of water was bubbling up out of the concrete and merrily washing down the lane onto the busy street at the end. Picture those New York fire hydrants cranked open, spewing torrents of water over cavorting parched and scorched citizens and you’d not be far off. That was happening in my normally arid driveway. Why? Our ancient water intake line that my late husband had constantly fretted over and I’d blithely ignored had cracked or split or crumbled. God knows. I couldn’t see anything but the unchecked gush.

Now what? Call in a plumber but who? The renovations on our basement had taken place years earlier and there was no way I’d remember the name of the chap much less his phone number. I looked at the gusher again. A flickering beam of hope. Maybe it’s the city’s problem? Best to call them.

“Whoa-oh Ma’am! Just five inches more on this side and it would have been our problem. But no. You get to deal with it! Heh-heh!”

Oh joy. The man they sent out from the city spent the next ten minutes warning me about whom NOT to call.

“You’re wasting a ton of water here so you’se got to deal with it quick. But don’t call Whooziwhat, they’ll rob ya blind, and don’t call SlipperyJoe, they’ll never show up and above all certainly don’t call PipumSlipum or they’ll just make it worse. Tootaloo!” With that he lumbered back into his work truck and sped off. Helpful. Is there anyone I could trust?

With my two kids now rolling in the floodwaters with wild abandon and potentially needing life jackets, I abandoned them to call the only person possible. Dave. He’d once been more than handy with a water issue (think rogue fireworks threatening the house across the street) and had worked in construction eons ago. He’d know someone to call. He did.

And that’s how I met wonderman Tom. Plumber extraordinaire and a true gentleman.

I could write pages about this guy but in the interest of keeping your attention I’ll be brief.

“Hmmm… gushing up out of your driveway ‘eh? Gushing’s not good. I’m on holiday starting today for two weeks and I’m supposed to be building our fence but I suppose I could come have a look at it. Within the next hour – is that ok?”

Long story short. Tom assessed the situation, abandoned both his holidays and that personal fence project. He replaced the entire compromised water line that ran from my driveway through our backyard into our house. A distance of about 30 feet. He and his partner came early each day and stayed until dark. It was hot, messy, back-breaking work but not once did he complain or make dreary excuses. He just got on with it. The best bit? The bill was fairer than fair.

Lesson learned? Good honest people do still exist. We need to remember that. Always.

To the good honest folks of this world. Especially Tom.

Enough about me and my life lessons outside the classroom. I’m curious about you. Are you still in school? Or finished? Either way is life one big learning curve? If you’d care to share, I’d love to hear.

This wraps up my post for Finish the Sentence Friday. Many thanks to my marvelous hosts Kate’s Can I Get Another Bottle of Wine, Janine’s  Confessions of a Mommyaholic, Stephanie’s Mommy for Real and Kristi’s Finding Ninee.