Or this could also be called “Busting a Myth: It Works Fine The Way It Is.”
As much as we love our “Little Blue House in the Woods,” it turns out we’ve been handed a house full of Handyman special “upgrades” and “fixes.” (Picture, if you will, those words being presented in the most obnoxious air quotes imaginable) Most of which are a bundle of cut corners and disasters waiting to happen.
We knew the place would need some work when we bought it and we were excited about doing the work. A few things here and there that popped up on the inspection. “They seemed to make some interesting electrical choices.” He said, “Not sure what the story is on these windows.” He looked down at his iPad, made a few notes and said, “It passes inspection, but you might want to get that looked at…”
The one thing that didn’t pass the inspection was the electrical work. The inspector took more photos of the breaker box and the wiring than anything else in the house. He wouldn’t pass us until we called an electrician for an “electrical inspection.” That was enlightening. He was baffled but he ultimately told us, “It works so it passes.” Someone had done the bare minimum to pass an inspection, but if we ever had to get any electrical work done, the electrician would probably have to rip a bunch out and do it over. Guess what…
Let’s be clear. No one got zapped. All the outlets passed the ground test. Everything worked just fine. The lights turned on and off like they were supposed to. It didn’t all make sense, but it worked.
Then the flood. Then the walls got cut open. Then we saw the rot and the mold stains on the, shall we call it “creative” framing. Then we ripped out more, and more, and more. And every wall we opened up revealed more problems. We won’t talk about the size of the spider I found. Don’t tell Kristie, she will burn it all down. Pulling out the drop ceiling in the laundry room was its own adventure and seeing several bare electrical wires sent poor Henry running to the breaker box. I wrote last time about the wires that were stapled to the rotting footers in the bad walls and underwater for a few hours.
And we’re left with another lesson. This time, it’s one I’ve heard for much of my life, especially in the context of church. “But it works fine the way it is.”
Friends, that isn’t enough. My car works fine the way it is and in another 2,000 miles, I’m gonna change the oil anyway, even if it’s working fine. We donated some toys and games a couple months ago and they were fine. Everything still worked and all the pieces were there, but we didn’t play them. Some had been outgrown, some we just weren’t into. Some things need a little attention because it’s time. New oil and filters, new tires, tune-ups, and other regular maintenance are all part of the investment. Some things aren’t meant to last. They’re just meant for a season. Then it’s time to let go and letting go is ok. And some things are just done poorly.
We didn’t waste the crisis. After the walls got cut up and the basement was dried out, the electrician came and ripped out all the bad work. The work we wouldn’t have known about without the flood. The work that worked, but it was not done right or well. The work that worked just fine the way it was, but once you looked close enough, there was no way, no reason it should have been done that way in the first place or kept that way.
Here we are, stepping out of what is almost a year-and-a-half crisis and we’ve all cut open some walls here or there. Things have been exposed. Maybe things that were known, maybe new things. Soon the doors will all be open again and the new normal will emerge. This is the time. This is the time to kick the tires and check the pressure, maybe discuss a trade-in. This is the time to clean out the closets, physically and metaphorically. The time to let go of things meant to be temporary. This is the time to rip out the bad work and take the loss if need be. We must be more invested in tomorrow than in yesterday. We must rely more on skill and quality than on ease and luck. We must not waste a crisis.
…Or, I suppose we can just patch it all up again. Hide it all again. Leave it for the next time while we hope and pray nothing serious happens. After all, it works just fine the way it is…