Texas plumbers named Joe

Houston Chronicle:

Joe the Plumber got his 15 minutes of fame courtesy of two guys running for president. Now, other plumbers named Joe are getting a few seconds of reflected glory, none more than Joe Francis, an Amarillo plumber who owns the Internet site of the same name.

The Texas Joe was inundated with calls even before the end of Wednesday night's debate of presidential aspirants in which the other Joe, who works at an Ohio plumbing company, figured prominently as foil and everyman metaphor.

Google-happy media folk, entrepreneur folk and just plain folk quickly zeroed in on the official Joe the Plumber, as decreed by the domain name registrar.

"I was walking in my house about 8 o'clock when the phone rang," said Ronnie Bishop, Joe the Plumber's office manager who routinely forwards the office phone to his home after hours. "They said, 'Joe, you're the most famous man in America.' I thought it was a prank call, and I hung up. Then I turned on the debate and I heard (John) McCain talk about Joe the plumber. I couldn't believe it."

Bishop immediately called Francis, who was at a restaurant eating dinner.

Francis hurried back to his office, unforwarded the phone and spent much of the evening talking to reporters and television producers as well as people wanting to buy his joetheplumber.com Web site and order T-shirts featuring his cartoon-like logo — a smiling fellow crouched over a pipe, his trousers predictably drooping a bit below the "plumber's crack," claiming to be "the friendliest plumber in town."

So far, Bishop said, about 2,000 T-shirts have been ordered at $20 apiece. The sudden attention has brought no new business otherwise, but the phone kept ringing off the hook Thursday. Francis wasn't there to deal with it because he went hunting.

"I don't mind," Bishop said. "It gives me something to do when things are slow. We had people from Esquire magazine wanting to talk to Joe. I've had tons of media people from New York call. I've gotten calls from Great Britain. Somebody called and wanted Joe to go meet the other Joe in Toledo and shake hands so they could take a picture."

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Other Joe the plumbers across America got less scrutiny in the wake of the debate but attention nonetheless. The Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners lists about 50 Houston plumbers named Joe, and some of them said they heard plenty about their namesake Thursday in the form of ribbing from clients and co-workers.

Several said they regretted missing Joe the plumber's moment of fame, especially since they were undecided voters and the candidates seemed to be speaking directly to them.

"I could've been swung left or right," said local plumber Joe Barsloue.

Joe Collins had intended to watch until he was called to repair an underground water line that sprang a leak just as the debate started.

"I got it on TiVo," Collins said Thursday afternoon. "I want to watch it tonight, but I'm on my way to another leak now."

Collins owns his own plumbing business in River Oaks, which grosses something in the ballpark of $250,000 a year. He's still not sure who he'll vote for.

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I think there are several plumbers in the River Oaks area who probably make more than $250,000 even if their name is not Joe. The ones who make the most probably are doing renovations on the mansions or are installing plumbing in new construction in the area. It would not surprise me if the plumber who did the work on Biden's mansion probably made something in that neighborhood too.