The Gaucho Gas Men

You want to meet someone for business at 9am? Good luck. If they are there at 9:15am that is punctual. If they are in construction and make it at anytime within the 9's of the morning then I am impressed. Bottomline, Uruguay's time orientation is like much of Latin America's: different, and delayed.

There are clearly bonuses and pros of having such a relaxed ambiance...until you really need something in 10 minutes, or one week, or whatever. But then enter the Uruguayan Gas-Man.

I had been frustrated with my apartment's "complications" for the previous three weeks. The final date of it's completion was pushed back three times for no apparent reason. Then I smelled gas leaking from my stove's tank. "Oh no. I will sit here for two days filling up my apartment with gaseous fumes waiting for a methodically mellowly slow gas technician to help me out" was my thinking.

I call at 7pm to ask for help, and I am returned with an astonishing, "We will have someone there within an hour." I couldn't believe my ears, and so I didn't. 'They will be here in 2 hours' went my thoughts.

Ring. 45 minutes had gone by, and already this glorious gas-fixer-man was at my door. Being so thrilled with the service, I had to snap a shot of him...one in which he was very happy to take.