Our daughter turned on the tap this morning to wash her hands in the bathroom and there was self-worry that she had done something wrong. She had not. After scuffling around and across the basement for a few minutes, we noticed a truck outside that read “Drinkable Water” and a smaller, but still large, sign that said “Pull Here.” There was a pickup truck in front with a man inside reading the newspaper and drinking a coffee from Robin’s donuts. I stepped outside to ask what the problem was and he said that there was a huge watermain break down the street and that we could use the potable water that they had brought in.
I was relieved, even tearfully happy. The city had noticed the break and would repair it by this afternoon. A crew had been scheduled for the repair. I was thinking about how this crew works. Do they, like firefighters, sit around the Department of Waste and Water, awaiting the call of duty?
Today was Yom Kippur, a day of atonement, apologizing, remembering, fasting, and the not drinking of water.