The Repair Café

On the first Saturday of every month, the church hall smells of solder, coffee and warm dust. This is the repair café. Anyone can bring a broken lamp, a stuck zipper or a toaster that has given up. One of a dozen volunteers will try to bring it back to life for free.

Pada hari Sabtu pertama setiap bulan, aula gereja berbau timah solder, kopi, dan debu hangat. Inilah kafe reparasi. Siapa pun boleh membawa lampu rusak, ritsleting macet, atau pemanggang roti yang sudah menyerah. Salah satu dari selusin sukarelawan akan mencoba menghidupkannya kembali tanpa bayaran.

Dominika, who coordinates the volunteers, has learned that the real work isn't fixing things. It is managing the two retired men at the corner table: a former electrician and a former watchmaker. Each is convinced that he is the fastest repairer in the building. A small chalkboard on the wall, which nobody admits to having started, keeps the score.

Dominika, yang mengoordinasi para sukarelawan, telah belajar bahwa pekerjaan sesungguhnya bukanlah memperbaiki barang. Pekerjaan itu adalah mengurus dua pria pensiunan di meja pojok: seorang mantan teknisi listrik dan seorang mantan tukang jam. Masing-masing yakin bahwa dialah yang paling cepat memperbaiki di seluruh gedung. Sebuah papan tulis kecil di dinding, yang tak seorang pun mengaku telah memulainya, mencatat skornya.

This morning the board reads: Toaster, 11 minutes (electrician). Wristwatch, 9 minutes (watchmaker). Both men glance at it whenever a new customer sits down, the way people glance at a mirror.

Pagi ini papan itu bertuliskan: Pemanggang roti, 11 menit (teknisi listrik). Jam tangan, 9 menit (tukang jam). Kedua pria itu melirik papan itu setiap kali pelanggan baru duduk, seperti orang melirik cermin.

At ten o'clock, an old woman called Johanna comes in, holding a wooden radio against her chest as if it were a cat. It is the size of a bread box, with a cloth front and a dial that was once lit from behind. "It was my husband's," she says. "He listened to the evening concert on it for forty years. It has been silent since he died."

Pukul sepuluh, seorang wanita tua bernama Johanna masuk, memeluk sebuah radio kayu di dadanya seakan-akan itu seekor kucing. Radio itu sebesar kotak roti, dengan penutup depan dari kain dan penala yang dulu menyala dari belakang. "Ini milik suami saya," katanya. "Selama empat puluh tahun dia mendengarkan konser malam lewat radio ini. Sejak dia meninggal, radio ini membisu."

The electrician reaches for it first. "Dead capacitor," he announces after thirty seconds, with the confidence of a man who has already pressed his stopwatch. "Twenty minutes, maximum."

Si teknisi listrik meraihnya lebih dulu. "Kapasitornya mati," katanya setelah tiga puluh detik, dengan keyakinan orang yang sudah menekan stopwatch-nya. "Dua puluh menit, paling lama."

"The dial cord has snapped," the watchmaker says at the same moment, leaning over. "It wouldn't turn even if the power were on."

"Tali penalanya putus," kata si tukang jam pada saat yang sama sambil membungkuk. "Tidak akan berputar sekalipun listriknya menyala."

They look at each other. Johanna looks from one to the other, as though she has wandered into a sport she doesn't know.

Mereka saling berpandangan. Johanna memandang dari yang satu ke yang lain, seperti tersesat ke dalam olahraga yang tak ia kenal.

Dominika has been watching from behind the tea urn. She knows exactly what will happen. The electrician will fix the sound, the watchmaker will fix the dial, and each will claim the radio as his own victory. Worse, it would be returned to its owner only half repaired.

Dominika mengamati dari balik dispenser teh. Ia tahu persis apa yang akan terjadi. Si teknisi akan memperbaiki suaranya, si tukang jam akan memperbaiki penalanya, dan masing-masing akan mengklaim radio itu sebagai kemenangannya. Lebih buruk lagi, radio itu akan dikembalikan kepada pemiliknya dalam keadaan baru separuh diperbaiki.

"Gentlemen," she says, and sets a third chair at their table. "I am changing the rules. This repair gets one score on the board, and it is shared."

"Bapak-Bapak," katanya, dan menaruh kursi ketiga di meja mereka. "Saya ubah aturannya. Perbaikan ini mendapat satu skor di papan, dan skornya dibagi bersama."

They grumble. Neither refuses.

Mereka menggerutu. Tak ada yang menolak.

For an hour, the corner table is almost silent. The electrician replaces a small capacitor, tests the wiring with a probe and mutters about the quality of old solder. The watchmaker threads a new cord around the pulley with tweezers, his tongue between his teeth, and loops it three times before it holds. Occasionally one of them says "Hold this," and the other holds it.

Selama satu jam, meja pojok itu nyaris hening. Si teknisi mengganti sebuah kapasitor kecil, menguji kabel dengan probe, dan menggumamkan keluhan tentang mutu timah solder zaman dulu. Si tukang jam melilitkan tali baru di sekeliling katrol dengan pinset, lidahnya terselip di antara gigi, dan harus melingkarkannya tiga kali sebelum talinya bertahan. Sesekali salah satu dari mereka berkata "Pegang ini," dan yang lain memegangnya.

Johanna drinks her tea and says nothing. Once she reaches out and touches the wood of the radio, then takes her hand back.

Johanna meminum tehnya dan tidak berkata apa-apa. Sekali ia mengulurkan tangan dan menyentuh kayu radio itu, lalu menarik tangannya kembali.

At twenty to twelve, the electrician switches it on. A hum, then a crackle, then a thin strip of light behind the dial. The watchmaker turns the knob slowly, and the needle slides across the numbers like a swimmer. A voice appears, murmuring through the static, and then a few bars of piano, faint but clear.

Pukul dua belas kurang dua puluh, si teknisi menyalakannya. Dengung, lalu gemeretak, lalu sehelai cahaya tipis di balik penala. Si tukang jam memutar tombolnya perlahan, dan jarum meluncur di atas angka-angka seperti perenang. Sebuah suara muncul, bergumam di antara derau, lalu beberapa birama piano, samar tetapi jernih.

The two men sit back at exactly the same moment. Neither says a word.

Kedua pria itu bersandar ke belakang tepat pada saat yang sama. Tak satu pun bicara.

Johanna presses a hand to her mouth. "That's the one," she says. "That's his concert." She thanks them both and, after some thought, shakes hands with each of them in turn.

Johanna menekan tangan ke mulutnya. "Itu dia," katanya. "Itu konsernya." Ia berterima kasih kepada keduanya dan, setelah berpikir sejenak, menjabat tangan mereka satu per satu.

When she has gone, Dominika walks to the chalkboard, picks up the chalk and writes: Radio, 1 hour 40 minutes (both). Behind her, the electrician and the watchmaker pretend not to read it.

Setelah ia pergi, Dominika berjalan ke papan tulis, mengambil kapur, dan menulis: Radio, 1 jam 40 menit (keduanya). Di belakangnya, si teknisi dan si tukang jam pura-pura tidak membacanya.