Adventures In Solitude II: The Nature Of The Experiment

The Nature Of The Experiment – Tokyo Police Club

How much should one tip a locksmith?

This is the quandary that I faced Tuesday afternoon. It’s probably a small miracle that I’ve never locked my keys in my car before so it’s only fair that this accident occurred at a time when I didn’t have the parental units around to tell me how to handle it. In fact, I’m certain that I subconsciously did this to myself as some kind of test. Especially when you consider that this problem isn’t a particularly difficult one to solve. A locksmith helps with locks. The square peg goes in the square hole.

Count on me to complicate things as usual. For one thing, I realized right away (well, almost right away) that I left my keys in the car. I felt for them as soon as I got out and immediately cursed myself and my own lineage. Unfortunately, I couldn’t deal with the problem right away as I had a job interview to go to in ten minutes. So I went and did the interview, but the whole time I was thinking about what an idiot I was and how much a locksmith could cost and whether there was anyone else I could call. I’m hoping that none of this was obvious to my potential employer. I think it went as well as could be expected.

When I finished with that, it took me about ten minutes to find a payphone and then, as you might expect, I gave them the wrong address. I was waiting around for about an hour before I decided to sheepishly call the company again and explain my mistake. The locksmith arrived soon after and all my questions were soon answered.

About five minutes of work.
125$ if you pay with cash.
An extra 5$ if you don’t feel like waiting for change.

I honestly hope that you’re not supposed to tip locksmiths, because if you aren’t then I was just doing this guy a solid because I was responsible for getting him lost. If you are supposed to, then I just fucked this guy over. Two times! It becomes clearer every day that I have no idea how to handle even the most basic aspects of human civility and the worst part is that even as I go from minor crisis to minor crisis I have no idea of I’m resolving them in the most efficient, correct manner. As far as I know, I could just be making things worse. Then again, all I can do is keep working at it, and have faith that I am beginning to comprehend the nature of these things.

And yes, hours later I am now aware that I should have just called CAA. An expensive lesson, but one that shan’t be repeated I assure you.

I would be remiss if I didn’t note one victory that occurred in the evening. The heavy snowstorm that hit Markham took down my tv for a while and it wasn’t until Annia came over that I got off my butt to see if there was something I could do about it. Actually, it’s more like Annia really wanted to watch American Idol so she ordered me to do something about it or she would call Bell herself. So I got the ice scraper from the van and stepped out into my backyard to clean the snow off the dish. Amazingly, this worked. The way Annia and I approach a problem is so different. She relishes taking them head on while I prefer to lie down and let the tank treads of life just roll over me. This is one area in which I admire her.

It’s pretty.
Yeah, I like it, just been fooling about with it for a few months now, very delicate…
It’s a…it’s a bit of a departure from the kind of thing you normally play.
Yeah, it’s part of a…trilogy really, a musical trilogy I’m doing…in…D minor, which I always find is really the saddest of all keys really. I don’t know why, but it makes people weep instantly, you play a…baaaaa…baaaaaa it’s a horn part.
It’s very pretty.
…baaaa, baaaaa, yeah, just simple lines intertwining, you know very much like, I’m really influenced by Mozart and Bach, it’s sort of in between those, really, it’s like a Mach piece really, it’s…
What do you call this?
Well, this piece is called “Lick My Love Pump”.
Hmm.