We went to the grocery today and while there we wanted to get a key made for some of our teammates. The key-making place is just a small wooden shack on the corner of the street. We had been there last week and they had a large selection of blanks so we had no trouble getting all the keys we needed. Key making is big business in Honduras because security is such a concern and everybody locks up everything. Many times the problem you have in getting keys made is the places have a limited supply of blanks and often they will not have the blank needed to make your key.
After seeing the large supply they had last week we made the bad assumption this would be a quick process without any hassles. Never assume that here. Cindy and Paul waited in the van while Brad walked across the street to get the key made. This shouldn’t take long – right? There is nobody else at the key place. Brad will be first in line.
Not so! When Brad hands them the key he notices they don’t have the large quantity of blanks hanging on the wall like they did last week. Strange! The lady making the key pulls out a small plastic bag filled with blanks, dumps them on the table, and begins to sort through them. She can’t find one that works so she calls her partner over and they both are sorting through the small pile of blank keys on the table. After several minutes it becomes obvious they can’t find a blank. Brad is thinking he just won’t get the key made today.
They, on the other hand, don’t seem to be too concerned about the situation. They begin opening up several drawers and looking through drawers full of all kind of stuff including a blank key here and there. Next they pull out a small metal box that is locked. Apparently there are more blanks in the box but it’s locked. The man gets out a key, Brad’s assuming it’s the key to box, and tries to open the box with the key. The key won’t work. So, how does he get the box open? Remember we are at the place where they make keys! He uses a screwdriver to manipulate the lock and open the box.
Not a real confidence booster that the key they are about to make is actually going to work. Oh, we of little faith. Inside the box they find the correct blank. Make the key. And guess what. It works great.
The two minute or less expected time to get a key has turned into to about a 10 -15 minute process and a very educational process at that. Once again, we learned the lesson: Never assume because it worked a certain way last week it will work the same way this week. Very bad way to plan your daily activities.
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