Hot Water

I once lived in a house in which I paid $40 a month for my share of the rent. It was an old house in great need of repair. It sat on the edge of a bleak section of the city.

When in the basement, I always caught the odor of natural gas. After reporting this to my housemate Jeff, he told me this story…

The winter before, they were having some problems with the hot water tank so they called the natural gas company. A service employee showed up and ventured downstairs to repair it. One look at it and he declared that those who lived in the house were in much danger. The water tank might blow up and take the house with it at any time. He immediately "red tagged" it and shut it off.

Jeff called the landlord about the problem. It took him a number of days to show up. In the meantime the renters had to live without hot water in the midst of a bitter cold winter.

When he finally paid his visit, without hesitation he lit the flame in the tank. "There's nothing wrong with this here tank," he stated. Then he promptly made an exit.

I moved out soon after hearing this story.

After several years I, by chance, drove past the house. It was still standing. Attribute it to either luck or the building's pure stubbornness to survive.