05/30/2026
When I was 17 years old, I got a job digging a hole.
The plumber in charge pointed up by the front door and gave me strict instructions: "Dig right here until you find the pipe. Once you find it, dig at least three inches below it, and follow that pipe all the way to the street. When you get to the street, call me."
So, we dug. Me and two other guys dug and dug. By the time we finally reached the street, that pipe was about six or seven feet deep. The heat was relentless—a sweltering 110 degrees in the middle of a Lancaster, California summer. It got so deep we had to tie a string to a bucket just to haul the dirt up out of the hole, all so we could clear those few inches below the line near the sidewalk.
Exhausted, I called the plumber in charge. "Okay, we're done."
When he arrived, the other guys were wiped out, laying down in the blazing sun. The plumber climbed down, dropped a piece of drain pipe into the hole, cut out the old line, put the new piece in, and installed a cleanout. He was there for less than 45 minutes. When he finished, he looked at me and said, "Okay, bury it."
Right then, a lightbulb went on.
The next time they sent me to a job site, I didn't just sit around. I climbed right into the hole with the plumber and watched everything he did. I started asking questions: Why are you doing this? Why are you doing that?
I kept that up for three or four months. The plumber took a liking to me because he saw how intrigued I was, and soon enough, he had me riding around with him in his truck. At first, I was just the gopher and the apprentice. It was always, "Go get me the pliers," "Go get the Channel Locks," "I need a hammer," "Drag the jackhammer over here," or "Dig a hole there."
I spent about a year as his sidekick, learning the ropes from the passenger seat. Then one day, he pulled up to a job, locked his fingers behind his head, leaned back in the seat of the truck, and said, "Okay, go."
I looked at him, confused. "Me?"
"Yeah, you."
"You want me to go knock on the door?"
"Yes," he said.
"What do I say when I get to the door?"
He looked at me and said, "Tell them you're the plumber."
That was 44 years ago, and I'm still doing it today.
If you want the job done right the first time, call Chris of Riteway Rooter in Lancaster, California at 661-810-9019. We’d love to keep your plumbing and drains flowing smoothly.