Two Men & A Vacuum were strolling the early winter streets, admiring everyone’s holiday decorations. All of the houses looked so festive. The two pointed out their favorite decorations to each other when suddenly they both stopped. Struck by the sight of a bare house, the two were overcome with the need to help and marched straight to the door. Upon knocking, a woman trailing bits of curling ribbon and tape stuck to her sleeves opened the door. “Can I help you gentlemen?”
“No,” said Two Men & A Vacuum. “We’re here to help you. We need to get your house ready for the holidays!”
The woman sighed. “I guess it is that time of year already. It’s just that I hosted Thanksgiving, and I have the children’s gifts to wrap, and I just haven’t gotten to it all yet.” She threw her hands up in frustration.
“Well that’s why we’re here. Let’s see what you’ve got,” said Two Men & A Vacuum.
The woman led the two men to her garage.
“It’s all in here somewhere,” she replied as Two Men & A Vacuum began rummaging through boxes.
Coming up with arms full of lights, disheveled wreaths, and a bevy of wooden soldiers, they nodded at each other. “We’ll take care of this!”
First were the Christmas lights. Two Men & A Vacuum began untangling the lights by starting at the plug end, and then they plugged in each strand to check for dead lights. One strand lay unlit and the two looked at it closely.
“You see,” they explained, “you can find a dead light by looking for the burned-out filament. It makes the bulb darker than the others.” They quickly traded out a light bulb and brought the lights outside, stringing them cheerfully around the woman’s banister.
“Your wreath looks a little tired, but we can fix that,” assured Two Men & A Vacuum. Pulling out a pair of scissors, the two snipped a few new branches from a neighboring shrub and wove them into the wreath. “Some fresh branches are always the easiest fix,” they noted, hanging the wreath on the front door.
Inside, the woman had begun to pull out candles to put in the windows. “Oh no!” declared Two Men & A Vacuum. “Don’t do that! That’s a terrible fire hazard. Use these battery operated ones instead,” they said, handing some to the woman. She tried to object, but they insisted. “Too many fires are caused each year by decorative candles. Fake ones are much safer.”
Looking around, Two Men & A Vacuum noticed one last important detail. There was no star on top of the tree! Returning to the garage, they dug around until they found one. Together, they reached for the top of the tree, placing the star on top where it was visible through the front window.
Two Men & A Vacuum looked around. The woman looked around. They were all pleased with what they saw. “That was so simple,” said the woman. “Thank you so much for helping me get this place ready for the holidays.”
“Just doing our job, ma’am,” replied Two Men & A Vacuum, and then headed outside into the cool night, leaving another home shining and festive.