lessons from the toilet bowl

I find the sound of water running continuously in a toilet bowl so incredibly irritating that I took it upon myself to try and fix it. I like to think of myself as pretty resourceful. My husband was on stand-by in case he needed to grab the telephone, a bucket or the video camera.
I won't go into the play by play and to make a long story short, I got it fixed. I replaced all of the guts of the inside of the tank except for the part that leads into the bowl. I discovered that the bolts that hold the tank to the bowl were rusted so badly that I was going to need a hacksaw to cut them off (something that I didn't have at the time). So that part, although not technically causing any significant problems, would have to wait to be replaced. Then I had a revelation.
Is this the defining moment between a good plumber and a GREAT plumber? It really gave me pause to ponder the fact that (to me) this was the distinguishing characteristic between those that are good at what they do and those that are great at what they do. For all intents and purposes, I fixed the problem. I am not a plumber, but I think I did a pretty good job. After all, I replaced the little flushy thing even though it wasn't broken. That should count for something! I could only imagine the experience and knowledge that one would gain by having to fix leaky toilets day in and day out on different species of commodes. Oh the stories they could tell. But I couldn't help but be bothered by the fact that, even after a couple of days have gone by now, those rusty bolts are on the toilet and I couldn't cut them off and fix them when I had the opportunity. So I wonder if plumbers, mechanics or even health care workers are bothered by not being able to fix things (people) completely and having to settle for whatever is "good enough" at the time. I started to think about what the limitations might be as to why someone would settle for "good enough" or maybe even "sub par". It could be their time constraints, lack of tools (knowledge being one of those), or lack of ability. I can't imagine that people willingly just walk away with things done half-assed and have it not bother them. I know, I'm naïve like that. What scares me even more is that "sub par" has been promoted to "good enough".
So perhaps this weekend I will go buy a hacksaw and drain the bowl again so it is not weighing on my conscience. I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to go back and make it right. However, I shutter to think of all the half-assed jobs that were not as fortunate. I am more aware of that today than I was a few days ago. I never thought fixing a toilet would be an enlightening experience…but there you have it.