In the most hectic season of all for delivery drivers, I met a gem.
Omar brought me a nice, fresh dryer and didn’t mind at all that he and his partner had to haul it down an old, twisted staircase to my basement.
He laughed when I apologized.
He told me I had a beautiful home.
He mentioned that I had neglected to order an installation kit, but that he would be happy to remove the parts from my old dryer and attach them to the new one if that was what I wanted.
I wanted a working dryer. Omar made it happen.
Even though he was pretty horrified when he saw the size of it, he even agreed to haul away the dinosaur washing machine that has been languishing in the room off my laundry room. He took the old dryer too.
The whole exchange was so pleasant, so professional, so quick, that I asked Omar if I could write about him.
He cheerfully agreed.
Here’s the thing about deliveries to old houses like mine. They don’t always go so smoothly.
Two years ago, I had a very different delivery experience when the washing machine I purchased from a different store arrived. Two little boys watched the whole thing from our family room couch. As it was opening day of the swimming pool, they wore their trunks and goggles. They could not wait to head over to the park to take their first swim of the year.
I complimented them on their squirmy but admirable patience. They politely watched the show
We invited the delivery man in and showed him to our basement. He was not at all pleased about the stairs that led to it. Then, he took one look at the old washing machine and said, “Well, there’s no way I’m taking that.”
I bit my tongue. Four big old eyeballs watched our exchange and I wanted to make sure I kept my temper in check. Also, we all really wanted to get to that pool.
“Okay, well if you could just install the new one, we can all be on our way,” I said.
He marched out to his truck, retrieved the washing machine and, with his cohort, wrestled it into the house.
“You probably should have bought this. from a different store,” he said.
“Next time I will,” I thought. But, in front of the boys, I just smiled.
Quickly, he plugged our new machine in and showed us it worked. Then, he hustled out and we headed over to the pool.
The next morning, I realized he had left his tools behind. With the little boys in tow, I headed back to the store and returned the tools.
“You were in such a hurry you left your tools behind,” I said.
He thanked me for returning them.
Since then, I have heeded that first delivery man’s advice. I purchased a new dishwasher from another store, And, a refrigerator. Then the dryer.
But, the idea of having another appliance delivered to my nearly 100-year old house made me nervous. I double checked to make sure the path down to our laundry room was clear. I’m not a candle girl, but I lit one anyway — for luck and to make our house smell like vanilla.
I greeted Omar at the door.
“I’m really sorry,” I said. “Our laundry room is in the basement.”
“It’s no problem,” he said.
And, the thing is, it wasn’t. They brought that dryer down to the basement easily, brought the old one back up easily. They admittedly struggled a bit with our old front-end loading washing machine, but they hauled that out too. (Of course, I paid them extra for that effort, but that first delivery guy knew I had planned to pay him extra too. He just flat out didn’t want to do it.)
I’m probably going to need a new stove soon. Appliances tend to keel over in unison.
Guess where I’m going to buy it?
Home Depot.
And, guess who I’m going to ask to deliver it?
Omar.
If you live in the Appleton area, you’re going to want to do the same.
Many thanks to Omar for restoring my faith in appliance delivery drivers and in humanity, and in my sweet, very old house.
