An Amazing Watch Repairman

                By Vic Odarve

As the grand wedding of my beloved daughter was approaching, I was passionate about wearing the old, treasured luxury wristwatch during the festive occasion. But it had a problem. Sometimes the watch second-hand moved forward erratically and ticks back and forth in one spot. Hence, I promptly decided to refer to a watch repair shop inside the mall and surprisingly, the charge for repair was P2700.00 excluding charges on parts to be replaced, if any. Because of short of budget, I instantly decided to be back on the other day. 

Watch Repair Shop

While going home and walking along the narrow aisles in the San Pedro Street, I passed by a glass shelf a meter wide with a flipped over the paper sign, “Watch Repair”. Just for curiosity and after a brief discussion with watch repairman, I asked,” How much is the charge for this watch to repair?”. Repairman Mando modestly replied, “Five hundred pesos, Sir. “Without hesitation, I handed my watch and curiously did an eagle eye how he carried out the repair. Astonishingly, he completed the job in an hour! As anticipated, Mando assured a warranty of 6 months.

Even after a year since repaired the watch worked perfectly without any specific problem. But the historical memory of Lando, wearing slippers, short pants and sleeveless shirt, and his small watch repair shop and the savings entailed on the repair cost of my wristwatch always haunting my memory. And he has been on this local business for 15 years. This business traditionally supported his family in making both ends meet. Unlike watch repair shop on the local mall where customers queued, this shop along this street sidewalk seldom had a customer! Since then, the picture still fresh in my memory.

Mando residential house

 Not long ago, our neighbor requested my help to seek a buyer for her house and lot located just a few meters from my residence. She planned to leave and join to her son living in Canada. To seek a prospective buyer, we posted in Facebook marketplace,” For sale house and lot for P2.9 million. Direct buyers only.”

A day later, a man came and visited the house and lot and keenly interested to buy. To my surprise, he was Lando, a watch repairman who did the job of my watch a year ago along the sidewalk of the San Pedro Street. Completely dumbfounded, I thought to myself ‘this watch repairman is a silent millionaire!’

Overtime, I learned that he lived just a block away with a three-story house worth around P5million. When I asked him what he should do with this house, he just merely says, “just reserve for the future once we grow old.”

His respond sounds good but pierced to my heart. Nowadays, even engineers and OFW’s have no millions of pesos in saving at hand.

San Pedro St, Davao City

And so, it is with life…As most people say that you cannot judge a book by its cover. It is baffling to believe a sidewalk watch repairman, who at your first meeting looks pitiful like most of the street vendors where having a difficulty in meeting both ends. How he did a saving and owned a house to such extent mystified me. It is possible that this guy won a lottery or conceivably had a wealthy aunt that died and left him millions of pesos. Nobody knows!

He is indeed an amazing watch repairman.