The Call

Finally, I made the call. The phone call. The call I should have made long ago. The call I was embarrassed to make because of my tardiness. The call I was embarrassed to make because of the consequences. No, I was not calling the IRS about unpaid taxes. I was not calling my dentist for a crumbling tooth. I was not calling a long lost relative to make amends for past woes. I was calling the man who has seen it all and done it all. He is the guy who cleans carpets.

Leon, our carpet cleaner guy, is pleasant and generally non-judgmental. He has the energy of a dozen hamsters and rarely finishes a sentence before he starts the next thought. He arrived at our house promptly at the designated time. Before he entered, I warned him that he had his work cut out for him. He is accustomed to my apologies. Our ancient carpet cries out for replacement but until that happens, cleaning is the only option. Come on in, Leon. Work your magic.

Leon is passionate about his job. He starts by surveying the task. He asked if I had vacuumed before his arrival. I knew this was just a rhetorical question. Before I could finish my affirmative statement he asked, "Did you do the edges?" Due to my cleaning insecurities I replied, "Sort of." He nodded and went to his van for a vacuum cleaner.

After the vacuuming was complete, he was ready to tackle the stains. Leon reads carpet like an open journal. The secrets are evident and there is no use making excuses. He has a stable of products to match each infraction. He likes to guess the source of the stain before I can clarify. Stain number one was a doozy and he asked whether we had a big water leak. Nope. It is the residual effect of a nasty pet situation. Mind you, we haven't had a pet for years but the stain continues to haunt us after each attempt to clean. Leon went to the truck for one of his products, the big bottle. Stain number two prompted the question, "Did you ever try to clean your own carpet?" At that moment I was sure I hadn't but I could see in his eyes that he was not going to believe such a response. Oops, maybe I had. "Does a Bissell Green Machine count?" I asked. Yep, no surprise to Leon. Out to the van for another product.

After a few more stain treatments, Leon revved up the big whirligig carpet cleaning machine. Time to get the deed done. Leon went to his happy place as he deftly guided the machine over and around and over again. When the task was complete he brought in the carpet rake. As I finished baking a batch of zucchini bread I could hear the scritch scratch of the final touches on our carpet. It is a sweet sound because I know the job is nearing completion.

Once again, Leon had breathed new life into our carpet. Before leaving, he said, "You know you have a really good carpet here. They just don't make them like this anymore." I am not sure if that was a compliment or not but I am not fussy about the sources of my ego boosters.

"Thank you, Leon" I replied. "Would you like a piece of zucchini bread?"