Modern locksmithing is interesting, to say the least. Thanks to the wide variety of skills necessary to do the job today, there is no telling what the skilled locksmiths at Bellevue Locksmithing will do from one day to the next. This is one of the best things about being a locksmith, you almost never have the same kind of day twice. If you ask us, that makes for an interesting and fulfilling life. Especially since our clients are almost always happy when we show up.
So, what does an average day in the life of locksmithing look like? As you might guess from the above, there really is no average day. That said, a day could start with a phone call to Smith, our fictitious locksmith.
The phone rings. Groaning, Smith rolls over to pick up his smartphone. The number is forwarded from the emergency line at the shop. Answering, he speaks to a woman on the other end of the line. She just got off of a second shift stocking shelves at Wal Mart and realized she locked her keys in her car. After a few questions to find out where the key is and what kind of car she has Smith is ready to go. It turns out it’s an older hatchback. Good, it should be pretty simple to pop the lock.
Smith arrives and the woman walks out of the store where she had been waiting. Like most people, she’s happy to see Smith and frustrated and a little embarrassed that she had to call. Fortunately, five minutes later, Smith has already put his wedges and slim jim away. With the credit card ran and signed for, Smith drives home for a few more hours to sleep before the workday starts. Then the phone rings again.
This time, it’s a broken magnetic lock for a small electronics store. The owner was wanting to get an early start rearranging some shelves before he opens the store in a couple of hours. This is a little more difficult but the on-call van has the tools for pretty much any job. Smith gets there to find a shivering store-owner. He looks over the system and runs back to the van to get the tools he needs to force the door open.
Once open, Smith hangs around to do some troubleshooting, finding that part of the linkage that drops the magnet in place was broken. It wasn’t anything too terrible, it was just worn out. After doing some quick repairs to get the mechanism working again and encouraging the owner to call them in for some preventative maintenance before it happens again, Smith looks at his phone. This job took a lot longer than the last one. Only an hour and a half before work starts. Deciding it isn’t worth trying to get some more sleep, Smith goes to an all-night diner for breakfast. It’s going to be a long day.
Smith is the first one in the shop. Before he’s done cleaning his tools from the night’s work, his boss, Locke comes in. After a quick greeting, Locke lets Smith know about a new training course for installing the latest doorbell security systems. Smith is more than happy to go. The more he knows, the more valuable he is, after all.
As Smith finishes signing up for the course, Locke gives him the worklist for the day. It’s all in the new apartment building downtown. That means there won’t be a lot of driving. Apparently the landlord is catching up on repairs. There are three push bars that need repairs and the keypads are getting upgraded. It takes a while, not least because Smith answers a lot of questions from inquisitive neighbors. Still, he finishes shortly after lunch and heads back to the shop.
After handing in his reports. Smith moves to go catch up on emails. Locke, noticing that Smith was moving a little slower than usual, tells him to call it a day. Smith gratefully accepts and turns on the on-call phone. It would be someone else’s turn tonight while Smith caught up on some much-needed rest.
Is that every day for locksmithing? No, but it is typical in that you could get called up at all hours and not have any idea what you are getting into until work starts for the day. Whatever the day brings though, it won’t be dull.
