That's Frank!

Our adventures in plumbing continue. There are so many things leaking in the basement that you could now take a shower down there simply by standing under various pipes. So Evan and I went to Menards on Sunday afternoon to the plumbing department. And Frank and Alex were on duty.

As Evan observed, "That's Frank." (recalling the scene in Cars after the tractor tipping in which Frank the combine chased Mater and Lightning out of the field.

This Frank, however, was a short man in his fifties with large eyes and an exacting way about him. We later learned that he was the undisputed guru of plumbing at Menards north. In the time we were there, two other customers approached and said, "Hey, Frank...." without looking at the name tag. Whatever he said they bought without hesitation and performed other obesiances.

I explained my situation and Frank went to work finding PEX piping, joints, etc. To install the new sink fixture, he made me purchase plumber's putty which I have never used before but didn't really have the courage to say no.

Since there are shut-offs in the basement, I thought that would be good enough. But Frank looked at me with a piercing stare from behind his bifocals.

"Well, it's your house, but if you spring a leak under the sink, what're you gonna do? Run all the way to the basement to shut it off?? No, you need shut-offs right there under the sink. This kind's got a ball valve and a lifetime warranty. That kind's a dollar less but doesn't have the ball valve."

I bought the one with the ball valve.

What happened to the days when the customer was always right???