Two of the pillars of civilization. Sure every profession and trade, every occupation , every job, deserves respect and dignity but those two…for me they are the underpinning of the modern world. I know how much “normal” life depends on them.

Seldom do I post pictures of people, and certainly never without their permission but the relief and security this man brought me today deserves recognition. This gentleman came to me from Cinq-Mars E L Plomberie situated in Pointe St. Charles, a “down home” neighborhood of Montreal. When I bought this house well over twenty years ago I asked a co-worker of mine if he could recommend a plumber. Scott was an orderly at the hospital where I worked and he seemed to me a man who knew stuff about every-day life. He lived in “the Point” which is not too far from my little house in an adjacent neighborhood. He immediately gave me the number of this firm. Ever since, any time I have had a problem with my plumbing, this is the guy who shows up.

Last week I was faced with a disturbing problem. I recently sold this house and am packing up, throwing out, distributing treasures in preparation for my move in a few weeks. Suddenly I noticed water was not draining as fast as it should and then on Monday a deluge of water rained down into an area of my basement. Mercifully it was a passageway to the back yard with a concrete floor but still, I was horrified. After consulting with the neighbors upstairs and a thorough inspection by my son-in-law we were all mystified as to where the water was coming from. After all, it appeared and then suddenly stopped – certainly, it could not be a burst pipe. Of course, I called my trusty plumber but he could not come until two days later. Since the water had stopped of its own accord I resigned myself to a watchful wait until he could come.

Yesterday I came back from shopping (how long could that take in a pandemic) to find a second deluge had struck. Another panicky call to Cinq-Mars. “Demain matin, Mme. Cunningham.” I had no choice as I certainly was not going to call in anyone else at this stage.

This morning I was never so glad to see anyone as a masked face appeared at the front door right on time! After a few moments of plumbing history on my part and studied diagnosis on his (almost like a consultation with the doctor) my knight in blue jeans returned to the truck to bring out “the snake”. Within fifteen minutes water was happily gurgling down any and all drains. It seems there was a blockage in the mysterious region of “further along” and whenever my neighbors above did anything watery like wash their dishes, floods of water backed up into my dishwasher to overflow into my basement. How fortunate that my dishwasher is positioned above the little back step area. “Fortunate” – a relative term.

The bill was merciful and I can now communicate with the new owners of my home and tell them that their pipes are well cleared out. I can sleep at night knowing I will not hear the pitter-patter of indoor raindrops. I have done my duty as a good homeowner handing over my beloved little nest to the next generation.

Yes, I maintain that plumbers are one of the pillars of civilization. I told my plumber I would write about him, and not only on Google. He agreed and laughed at me for my rather high-blown theories. Such people are hard to come by and to be treasured. If you live in Montreal or on the South Shore – Cinq-Mars E.L Inc., 2325 rue du Centre, Montreal, H3K lJ6 tel: 514 933-8411.

As to garbage collectors, next time.