Typical Day
In the pre-dawn light of 5:45AM, George shuts his front door and hurries to his car. It putters small puffs of smoke as it warms in the driveway. Like most other days this time of year, the morning temp is a bit nippy, and George wants to make sure he's doesn't lose any time. That's why he's been up since 5:00AM.
There will be a lot of people this morning who, like him, leave their keys in the ignition to warm the engine in the chilly air—and a few of them will accidently hit the lock button on their way out. As a professional locksmith, George is ready to respond to the panicked phone calls that result.
He pulls behind his building at 6:00AM. The dedicated van spot is empty, meaning Jerry is on his last call. As he unlocks the front door, George flips the switch on the signage out front. The neon buzz of the big "LockMeUp" hanging on top of the building is a nice reminder that it's time to start his day. He's the owner of this twenty-four-hour business―one of the perks of ownership being that he no longer has to work the overnight shift.
As if it's meant to be, the phone rings as the van pulls in at 6:45AM. George takes down the information, nodding a good morning to Jerry as he walks in. Dropping the van keys on the desk and scratching his balding grey scalp, Jerry grabs his bag and heads back out the door. He might have waved goodbye as he exited, or he may still have been scratching.
George picks up the keys, looking after the door with a blank stare. Jerry's not a big talker.
It's 10:15AM, and George is back at the shop after pulling a triple header, answering three calls in a row, every one of them a locked car door. He's not surprised; George is experienced enough to know that rush hour + cold weather + no coffee = work for him. Walking in, he says hello to Devon, a bright young guy who has a knack for helping the customer.
Devon started as an apprentice before George put him on full-time work. He even lets Devon go out on easy jobs every once in a while...but he's not ready to give up the shop just yet.
After lunch (brown bag sandwich and a cup of coffee, as usual), a call comes in about a broken lock in an apartment building. Devon begins moving for the keys, but he's not quick enough; George swipes them off the hook by the door and grabs his jacket.
"You snooze, you lose," George smirks. He winks at Devon, turns, and walks straight into the door.
"It's locked," says Devon as he turns back to the inventory.
George arrives at the apartment building around 1:30PM. After meeting with the landlord and taking a look at the lock and the damage, George heads back to the van. It should be a fairly straightforward job; some overzealous tenant obviously had too much Red Bull and tried to power the lock open with the wrong key. The tenant insists he used the right key―he was just "in a hurry." Sure you were, buddy.
Inside the van, which is basically a lock shop on wheels, George opens a few drawers before he finds the components he needs. He grabs a power screwdriver and a couple manual tools, and heads back inside to make the switch.
Four-and-a-half hours later, it's 6:00PM and George is on his sixth and final call of the day, ready to help a man who walked out of his house without his keys. Oops.
George arrives to find the man pacing outside, keeping warm by slapping his palms together. After shaking hands and checking the man's address on his driver's license, he takes a look at the door. As the man fidgets behind him, he notices that the door has been locked twice: once on the handle, and also once in the deadbolt. Thing is, the man couldn't have locked the deadbolt without keys—so this door was locked by someone else. Uh-oh...
Stepping back, George asks the man a few follow-up questions. As it turns out, this man and his wife have recently divorced, and the house they are standing in front of no longer belongs to him.
Some locksmiths would have seen the address on the ID and said that was enough for them. George prefers not to make someone else's problem his problem, though—if the ex has changed the locks, it's probably for a good reason. He politely declines the job and heads back to his van. He drives away, conscience clear, leaving the now red-faced man shouting in the distance.
Back at the shop, George says his goodnights and hands the keys to Jerry around 6:30PM. Jerry replies, "Mmm," which George mostly takes to mean, "It was great to see you, I'll catch you later."
Arriving back home at 7:00PM, George is greeted at the door by his wife, Jenny. She's home from work before him tonight. Jenny absolutely loves her job as a physicist. George knows the importance of doing what you love—he does it every day—and thinks their career satisfaction is part of why they have such a happy life together.
They sit down to a delicious late dinner and talk about the most interesting parts of their day. George and Jenny share a good laugh at some of the names the angry divorcee had for George.
Turning off the light and snuggling deep under the covers, George is in bed by 9:30PM. Tomorrow will be another cold one, and he has to be ready for whatever the day throws at him. After all, you snooze, you lose.