Skit Whiskey

May 28, 2025

The elementary school I attended was smaller with around 30 kids per grade. It was an older building that had the obvious remnants of patches, repairs and layers of paint. For the purpose of a time reference, my mom went to the same school and she was not on the show 16 and Pregnant.

Larry Stattler was the Custodian at the school. A few years ago, my mom informed me that he passed. He worked for 21 years as the Custodian at that school.

The building was not perfect, but it was not in despair either. The patches, repairs and layers of paint started to add up over the years until they protruded in a way that no new construction building ever would. The brick walls had been painted so many times you could indent and leave an impression into the soft layer of latex with your fingernail. A lot of the walls were a shade of faded seafoam green.

I’d be willing to wager that Larry didn’t receive many thank you’s from the snot nosed elementary children over his 21 years. I’d be hopeful that he received a few thank you’s from the grown ups.

In today’s world, you can pay a random stranger to do anything from clean your house to change your oil to cook your food. Outsourcing, delegation and specialization is likely a large reason we have, as a society, been able to advance so quickly over the past few decades. Back in the day, those guys had to do it all on their own.

For me, the penalty due to lack of maintenance is too great. As an example, if you don’t periodically change your furnace filter, it will break. Filters cost pennies and furnaces cost many, many dollars. For that reason, I caulk facets that move too much, change the truck’s oil when it’s time and mow the grass when it’s long. I buy a nice chef’s knife knowing it will last longer.

The furnace filter is a very literal repercussion for not properly maintaining something you own with an estimated momentary value. The more abstract applications of maintenance apply to more ambiguous ideas like relationships.

If you take that elementary school as an analogy for your relationship with your partner. Are you replacing a part on the boiler before it becomes a catastrophe? Are you applying a new coat of paint for something different? Are you doing the daily maintenance of sweeping the floors?

I never told Larry thank you for doing a thankless job. Consider this a note of appreciation to someone I didn’t know, doing something that made the lives of others better in a way that no one even thought about much.