The Unsung Heroes With a Toolbox

By Dale Jodoin Columnist                                               My knees made a decision for me recently. I needed some trees trimmed around my Oshawa home. A few years ago, I probably would have grabbed the tools and tried doing it myself. Not this time. I called someone local. He showed up, did the work, cleaned everything up and headed to his next job. That should have been the end of the story. Instead, I wondered how many handymen and handywomen work around Oshawa every day without most of us noticing. Look around Oshawa's older neighbourhoods. There are people living in homes where they raised their children 30, 40 or even 50 years ago. Many want to stay there. Houses age along with the people inside them. Steps crack. Railings loosen. Faucets leak. Doors stick. Trees need trimming. For a handyman with the right tools, it might be a twenty minute job. For an older person with bad knees, it could sit there for months. These local handymen and handy women are not simply fixing houses. Sometimes they are helping people remain independent. It is not only seniors. People with disabilities may need help with ordinary repairs. Single parents are balancing work, children, bills and a home where something always seems to need fixing. Widows and widowers may suddenly face jobs their spouse once handled. Sometimes you just need a trustworthy handyman who knows what to do and is willing to take the smaller job. There is another part worth thinking about. We hear a lot about buying Canadian. But supporting Canadians does not stop at the checkout counter. Hiring Canadians counts too. Hire a handyman, handywoman or small tradesperson from Oshawa or Durham Region and you support a Canadian worker and local business at the same time. They buy fuel, tools and supplies and spend money at other local businesses. Money paid to repair a railing or trim a tree can continue moving through the community. That small job helps more than one person. There is a caution here. A few years ago, I was ripped off because I failed to properly check references. I am normally pretty hard nosed about checking people out, but I let my guard down. That should not make us afraid to hire a local handyman. It should remind us to be sensible. Ask neighbours who they trust. Check references. Get the price and work in writing when appropriate. Good handymen and handywomen understand reasonable questions. Be especially careful when someone unexpectedly comes to your door offering work and pressures you for an immediate decision or payment. If you believe you have been the victim of fraud, theft or another crime, contact police. But dishonest operators should not define the many honest handymen and handywomen doing good work. Find someone reliable, keep the number and tell a neighbour. Reputation remains one of the best advertisements a small business can have. There are also people, young and old, who were simply never taught household repairs. There is no shame in not knowing something nobody taught you. A good handyman or handywoman can fill that gap and sometimes pass along a little knowledge too. Now think beyond Oshawa. Handymen and handywomen are everywhere. Across Canada and around the world, they move from one job to another, helping people they may never see again. They help seniors remain independent. They help families. They keep homes from falling into disrepair. They spend locally and help keep community economies moving. Here is the question I keep coming back to. What would happen if they all stopped showing up tomorrow? Who fixes the elderly neighbour's steps? Who repairs the single mother's gate? Who changes the light for someone who cannot climb a ladder? Who takes the small job nobody else wants? Maybe we would finally notice how much our local handymen and handywomen actually do. They rarely make headlines. Nobody puts their name on a plaque. They finish the job, put the tools away and move on. Yet somewhere tonight, an older person can safely use the front steps because a handyman fixed them. Somewhere a family can close its gate again. Somewhere a person can remain in the home they love because somebody took care of those little jobs. Little jobs? Maybe we have been calling them that for too long. Look around your own community and think about the handyman or handywoman quietly keeping things working. You might be surprised by just how much we need them.