Frank brought a broken drawer to repair club. His wife brought a door handle and a crooked shelf.
Every item had broken after Frank fixed it.
The volunteer asked whether there was anything else at home that needed work.
Frank’s wife took a folded piece of paper from her bag….
Frank carried a kitchen drawer into the village repair club.
One side had come loose. The bottom hung at an angle. A wooden spoon was trapped inside it.
The volunteer, Jo, asked what had happened.
It needed a small repair, said Frank.
His wife, Sue, put a bag on the table.
It still does.
Frank explained that he had used stronger glue.
Jo looked at the drawer.
It had dried with the spoon inside.
Sue said the spoon had been holding the side straight.
Frank said somebody must have moved it.
Jo freed the spoon, cleaned the joints and put the drawer back together.
While the glue set, Sue took a door handle from her bag.
This is another little one.
Jo turned it over.
The screws had been fitted from the wrong side.
Frank said that had seemed safer.
Safer for whom? asked Sue.
The handle could now be used only by someone already inside the cupboard.
Jo fixed it.
Sue produced a shelf bracket.
Frank had put the shelf up at a slight slope. He called it hardly noticeable. Sue had been storing round jars on it.
Jo asked whether any had fallen.
Only the ones that didn’t have handles, said Sue.
Frank looked at the other tables.
People had brought in lamps, a radio and one toy train.
I think we’re taking up too much of your morning, he said.
Jo said that was what the club was for.
Sue took out a notebook.
Frank tried to close it.
Jo asked whether the house contained many more little jobs.
Sue thought for a moment.
Would you count a staircase as one job or several?
Frank said the staircase was perfectly safe.
I know, said Sue. I haven’t let you touch it.
Jo laughed and asked where they lived.
Sue unfolded a piece of paper. It showed a simple map from the hall to their street.
Jo said she did not normally make home visits.
Sue slid the paper closer.
It wasn’t a request for a visit. At the top she had written NEXT SATURDAY, with a start time.
Frank read the rest.
Sue, he said, why have you drawn space for all the tables?
She looked around the busy hall.
It’s easier to move the repair club than carry the house.
If you enjoyed this joke, share it on Facebook and Pinterest!