Jack was one of those people that could do almost anything. For most of his life he'd done repairs on everything from home-appliances, to cars, to housing damages, and everything in between. According to him if something could be fixed then he'd fix it, and if he couldn't fix it then it just couldn't be fixed.
There was always something in need of fixing. According to Jack nothing ever broke-down and went looking for someone to fix it, so it was up to him to find things in need of fixing. Sometimes he'd go around knocking on doors to solicit his services. If a big storm had swept through town he'd find a roofing outfit and hire on for a few months. When he had spare time he'd swing by his uncle's auto-shop to see if they needed help keeping up with repairs.
A few times a year Jack would give candy to some of the kids in his trailer park to put up fliers. The fliers just had his phone-number and the words "Jack-of-all-trades will fix anything". When he could afford to keep the phone on it'd ring a couple times a week after the fliers were distributed.
His trailer was close to the entrance of the park, and everyone driving past it would see the sign reading "Jack of all trades" that he kept in his front yard. He'd made a deal with the park's maintenance and supervision to let him keep the sign there in exchange for helping out with repairs in the park from time to time. The residents sometimes called him for repairs before they spoke with the park officials, but he never complained or let them know about it.
Over time word spread through the park that Jack would fix things for residents on the cheap if not for free. Some of the residents told stories of him turning down money, and others told of paying him with nothing more than homemade treats. As word spread more and more of the park's residents started asking Jack for repairs.
The more Jack helped people in the park the less time he had to go out and make money. According to everyone in the park he didn't seem to mind. As his trailer started to get older it showed signs of being in need of repairs. Every time he tried to paint it someone would inevitably swing by and ask him for some repair or to paint their trailer too. He'd put off painting his own trailer, and rush off to help whoever was in need.
His trailer started to look pretty shabby after a while. Some of the residents even complained about it to the park supervisor a few times. No one ever came by to help him paint it or anything though. As his trailer showed increasing signs of neglect there were other things Jack seemed to have had trouble keeping up with too.
Jack's tools had always been in good order before cheap words had spread through the park. Over time people started to notice that his tools not only looked worn but rusted over too. Some of the people that knew a few things about repairs also noticed that he wasn't using the right tools on some of the jobs, and he seemed to be bringing smaller and smaller tool kits.
Over the years Jack himself seemed to be aging faster than what could seem natural. A few of the residents became concerned with this. Some of them tried to ask him if everything was alright, but he never let on that anyone should be concerned with him. It wasn't long after this time that he started to become more reclusive.
Some of the residents had gone to ask him for help, but hadn't been able to get him to answer his door. Others complained that he'd ignored them when they tried to catch him while he was entering or leaving his trailer. A few residents thought he might be showing early signs of senility, but no one knew what was wrong with him.
Jack eventually took the sign down from his front yard, and ceased to send kids out with his fliers. After the sign came down he only left his trailer about once every few weeks to get groceries. Someone in the park claimed that he'd sold all of his tools for scrap around that time. Some of the residents expressed concerns with each other over Jack's reclusive habits, but no one knew what if anything should be done about it.
Then one day someone noticed a smell coming from his trailer. The police came and found him on the kitchen floor. His dishwasher was dismantled and parts were spread out neatly on the kitchen counter. At first the police found it odd that there weren't any tools in sight, but when they moved his body they were able to figure out what happened.
He'd been trying to fix the dishwasher with a rusty pocket knife. At some point the screwdriver-prong had busted-off of the tool. Apparently after that Jack had used the rusty cutting-prong to put a hole in his throat. They found a length of tubing attached to his wound and leading to the washer's drain. According to police he must have intended to keep from making a mess.
Jack didn't have a will or any next of kin, and there wasn't a funeral for him. A few of the park residents thought about having some kind of service for him, but nothing came of it. One of the residents said that they wished there was something they could have done to fix Jack. It was only after hearing these words that I understood.
For most of his life Jack was trying to fix more than just the things people used in their homes. He was trying to fix something that none of his tools were made to repair. His rusty pocket knife was just another tool that couldn't fix what he wanted to repair. In the end he must have known that despite all of his efforts he couldn't fix what was wrong with the people in his life. This meant that the saddest possible thing had to be true. After all- if Jack couldn't fix it, then it just couldn't be fixed.
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