As someone who spends – I dunno – maybe half my waking hours with my head poking into places like broken toilets, your humble correspondent doesn’t think very often about the meaning of life. But recently, there I was floating through the “It’s a Small World” ride in Disneyland with our granddaughter, and suddenly it all made sense.
In case you’ve never been there, this short video is pretty much all you need to know. Hundreds, or maybe even thousands, of large animated dolls grouped by the countries they’re from, dressed in their native costumes, singing in unison an “earworm” song that will then bounce around in your head for months. Most notably, these animated dolls representing all these different countries are getting along just fine, thank you. No missiles, land mines, drones, hostages, or REAL pirates – the ones who actually kill and pillage. Yeah, none of that.
So I’m thinking, who was this Walt Disney guy who came up with this? Was he some kind of nut? Didn’t he ever watch the news? Was he asleep his entire time at Marceline Missouri Middle School, so never learned what a hell-hole the world has always been, and how rotten human beings have always been to each other?
But then I’m thinking, what if Walt Disney was right? Come to think of it, if I never watched the news, I had slept through middle school, and my views were limited only to what I had actually, personally seen, this world Disney presents on this ride might seem about right.
Hey, I’m not basing this opinion on nothing – just on almost nothing. Because lately I’ve picked up a hobby of taking trips to places outside of Western Civilization, some of which have cost almost as much as an afternoon at Disneyland. And no, I’m not going to say I’ve seen grown men in Lederhosen singing, spinning, and slapping their heels with open palms. But I am seeing people who are nice to us, appear to be as happy as we are, are also spending time with granddaughters, and don’t seem particularly interested in throwing rocks and hurling projectiles at others. Their happiness seems to be all about the small things in their day-to-day lives, not geopolitical events. So maybe our differences really ARE smaller than they seem.
Taking this one step farther, I’m coming to believe it’s the same when it comes to home repairs – your day-to-day happiness with your home is all about the small things. How many times in your LIFE are you going to take on the big projects, like remodeling your kitchen, replacing everything in a master bath, or refinishing a basement that is now lined with concrete and raw lumber? Chances are you’ve already put these projects off for years, and you only think about them every once in a while.
On the other hand, how many times in a DAY are you bothered by the SMALL things? That door that’s hard to shut, that window that drops like a guillotine when you lift it up then let go, that caulk around the bathtub that’s cracked and has turned yukky. And, I’m just getting started. In fact, the Fix St Louis website lists dozens and dozens of things that go wrong with DOORS ALONE, that require repair or replacement. When you look at this web page, you’ll see all the categories of home repairs and improvements we handle, and HUNDREDS of jobs when you drill down even more.
Other contractors might SCOFF when they look at the Fix St Louis website’s lists and lists of mostly SMALL jobs. But that’s the point. Because by now you may have learned that virtually no other contractor even wants these jobs. They might not tell you that directly to your face. Instead they let you know by not returning your calls, never giving you firm work dates, not showing-up when the time comes, trying to talk you into doing a much bigger job (e.g. replacing all your windows instead of fixing just one), or quoting an unrealistically high price to either discourage you from hiring them or making it worth their while if you do.
So maybe it’s not as thrilling as a trip to Disneyland, but many homeowners are overjoyed to learn about Fix St Louis, the company that actually PREFERS small jobs to big ones. In fact, if Walt Disney were around today he might say Fix St Louis provides “the happiest home repairs on Earth!”
Fix St Louis is also Disney-ish in that homeowners often think our technicians perform “magic.” But that’s only because they had no idea their small problems could be fixed at all, much less how to do them. Fortunately, all they have to do is use the magic of telecommunications, and we’ll do our part to make your home the happiest place on Earth!