Thursday, June 28, 2007

Herr T-Com Kam

No more checking e-mails on a laptop just out of sight of Yorckschlößchen. No more camping all day on the sofa by the electrical socket. No more running up bills, one Milchkaffee after another, an Apfelschorle, a Jever, danke danke danke.

The doorbell rang. Unbelievably, it was der Mann. The man from Telecom. He came upstairs; he came into an apartment of unspeakable squalor; he went to the jack; he went to another jack; he went upstairs; he came back; he did something, I know not what. And now there is a telephone connection, and DSL connection. We shook hands, I speechless with gratitude.

This is what I should have done with my life, no question. Made people happy.

5 comments:

Maury D'annato said...

How nice to discover your blog. I was just trying to remember whether something did or did not come from The Last Samurai and made my way here. I hope the new novel is available again soon.

Languagehat said...

But you do make people happy -- you've made me a lot happier than even a good repairman, and I'm only one of many.

At any rate, congratulations on your restored service!

Helen DeWitt said...

I donät know (sorry, German keyboard but it seems a pity to change it now). Of the past 12 months 7 have been spent not writing but composing synopses, writing to agents, that sort of thing. 7 months that could have been spend repairing telephone connections!

I'm thinking of DeNiro's cameo as Tuttle, the rogue heating engineer in Brazil. Rogue telephone repairman. It sounds so good.

Anonymous said...

I've always wondered what really happened to Tuttle in the end.

language, you might be underestimating the value of a good repairman! Danke, indeed.

Languagehat said...

language, you might be underestimating the value of a good repairman!

Not at all, I'm simply properly estimating the value of our hostess. My wife and I recently had good cause to be grateful for the ministrations of an electrician who showed us how to fix the lights in our cellar without having to use new equipment (which he could perfectly easily have sold us), but if I had to choose between a lit cellar and The Last Samurai, I wouldn't hesitate for a second.