Panic during pandemic:
TL/DR: fridge goes bust hours before lockdown on Sunday. Will it get fixed in time for a 2-week curfew?
Refrigerator stops cooling sometime in the afternoon. Mum plays around with thermostat. Doesn’t inform anyone...
TL/DR: fridge goes bust hours before lockdown on Sunday. Will it get fixed in time for a 2-week curfew?
Refrigerator stops cooling sometime in the afternoon. Mum plays around with thermostat. Doesn’t inform anyone...
I notice milk carton is warm when making tea for fam around 7pm. Think it must be a new one that’s why it’s warm. Water bottles also barely cold. Ignore my sixth sense.
Mum comes in at 8pm with mild panic. Fridge doesn’t seem to be cooling at all. I go to inspect with her. The ice from the freezer has started to thaw. 4 hours to lockdown. What can we do?!
Fridge is PEL. Mum has mobile number of an aircon electrician saved as Rashid PEL. Small debate if Rashid can also fix refrigerator. Call the number. Some random guy says he’s not Rashid and puts it down.
5 mins later, another number calls mum back. It’s Rashid! 🎉🎊. I explain the situation. Ask him if he can come check the refrigerator. He says his tools are at the shop (which has been closed over the weekend). If he can get them, he’ll try coming now. Otherwise tmrw.
Worst case scenario: putting our stuff in neighbors’ refrigerators. We live in a small apartment block, so doable. But everyone is stocking up. Will they have space? Meanwhile mum is thinking if there is enough time to go buy a new fridge from carrefour before midnight.
9pm. Rashid calls. He’s down the street. Needs directions. I run and fetch him. He opens up stuff. Turns out relay switch is burnt. He looks at me for a solution. I stare back blankly. How tf would I know where to get a relay switch from?!
He makes a phone call to a friend. Asks if shops around his house are open. Asks him to check if anyone he knows has relay switches. Looks up at me. Hope and despair. Says he will go and try to find a relay switch.
It’s 10pm, and I’m tweeting this. He’s been gone for 45 mins. Two hours before the lockdown kicks in. Will Rashid find a relay switch? Will he make it back in time? Will the refrigerator start working? I guess we will all find out soon 🤷🏽♂️
10:15pm. Despair settling in. Been almost an hour. No word from Rashid. Each family member is trying to distract themselves privately. Sis 1, mum and myself, endlessly scrolling social media in separate rooms. Sis 2, @amna_tq reading Bad Feminist in the living room. Silence.
10:23 pm. Bell rings. I run. Rashid’s beaming face and blackened hands. Tells me he went to Lines Area. Asked a friend to open his shop. Got a replacement relay, but his bike chain broke. Had to fix it, hence the blackened hands.
By now mum is also at the door. He reveals replacement relay from his pocket. 🎊🎉. I usher him into the kitchen. He gets down to work. My heart is racing. Never have I ever wanted to hear the humming, annoying sound of a refrigerator compressor! Never.
He plugs in the new relay. Pivots the fridge back in place. Plugs it in. Drmmmmmmmmmmm. 🤖👾🤖. Sweet mother of lord. The compressor turns on. Rashid triumphantly leans back on the counter. Smiles. Smiles and relief all around. Day is saved, thanks to Rashid. 🙌🏽
FYI: he only charged 500 for the switch, and 500 for his khuwari. He could have asked for 5000 and I’m sure my mum and I wouldn’t have thought twice. Not all heroes wear capes. Some just carry a tester and deep knowledge of where to get PEL fridge spare parts at 10pm on Sunday.
For all those who were invested in this story: here’s the triumphant parting shot. Now gonna wait for that fruit chaat to chill. Thanks for being a part of this 🙏🏽. Wash your hands, stay safe, and demand basic universal income during this time.
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