This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Stay on Roger's Good Side

A Maplewood hardware expert goes out of his way to help a neighbor.

I was stranded at a Sam's Club gas station in West County on a Saturday late afternoon. I had locked myself out of my car. Allow me not to go into any more detail.

My first thought was to call Nancy, my wife. I called and no answer. I texted. I called again. By her count after this happened, I called 11 times in all. Not to throw her under the bus, but I knew she was home.

It was chilly and raining, and I wasn’t too peeved but I wasn’t happy. I knew the first names of our Maplewood neighbors, but no last names, so I was out of luck there, assuming they had land lines. I don't have a smart phone so whatever help that could have been wasn't an option.

What to do? Well, I had a friend at , about 150 steps away from our front door. Whenever I walked there for a washer or a handful of masonry screws he was always helpful and friendly. So I bit the bullet, called 411 for the number, and with trepidation gave him a call to see if he could raise my wife. He answered, and yes, he said he could stop by there in 10 minutes, since he was the only one in the store, and had to stay until closing.

Short story: I was saved.

Skip to the next day. The situation came up in conversation, and my wife said she was working around the house when there was a knock at the door.

My friend had pulled up in his pickup, and he was at the screen door looking in.

"Answer your phone," he said, when my wife came to the door. "Your husband is stranded.” Then, by my wife's account, he gave a slight smile.

Let's see you try that with your local Home Depot.

Anyway, I'm here to tell the tale, and happy that I can write about it sitting in a coffee shop in Maplewood that I can walk to.

I later discovered from a neighbor that my friend at Scheidt Hardware is Roger, who has worked there since 1975, he guessed. He said he started there after he graduated from high school, which would put us at about the same age.

Roger “flat out knows hardware,” the neighbor said. He also said if Roger likes you, he can be amazingly helpful–just don’t walk into the store acting like you know more about hardware than he does. Because you don’t.

So I’ll be extra careful to not lock myself out of my car in West County again, and of course, to stay on Roger’s good side.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Maplewood-Brentwood