I arrived at my condo in the Caribbean after missing 2 visits and the place empty for 7 months. Surprise--my kit sink wouldn't drain. Draino did nothing. I opened the S-trap to find they were clean as a whistle. The clog was somewhere in the concrete wall or under the ground. A 'real' plumber said the prob was under the bldg and I/he needed HOA approval for the dig, and then he would send 'an associate' but wouldn't do it himself. The complex security guard (who also acts as gardener, pool man, handyman, etc), said he could solve the problem. He opened the concrete sewer box in the ground and cleared out all the muck, exposed the pipe and spent several hours on his knees snaking and pulling out dried, hardened crap. Then hooked up a garden hose to my sink pipe to see if water came out the other end. He did this several times till the water flowed freely, then put everything back together. He charged me 3000 pesos (@ $60) and had to buy a new pipe and glue which he didn't even ask extra for. I gave him extra anyway.

He had no camera, no motored router, just elbow grease, a manual snake, and a 3rd world fix. The orig plumber wanted $600US but wouldn't do the work. The local amateur was willing to put in the work and was very happy with his 75 USD.

I have had similar experiences.

Once, when I left to go shopping for a water pump to empty out my mother's swimming pool so we could re-paint it, a Mexican worker used some rope, a brick and a 5 gallon bucket, and got most of the pool emptied before I got back with my newly purchased pump!

I have had many slabs poured by Filipino workers who mix the concrete on the ground with a hoe, no mixer, no basin, just pour out a bag or two of the Readimix in a big circle on the ground and add water.

I am happy to be the beneficiary of their ingenuity!

That's not just third world. It's good, old-fashioned country folks ingenuity and hard work like I grew up with.

Most Americans do not understand the true value of the dollar or the hard work it takes to make it