A throwaway existence
Oh, to have less of a conscience. I tried sleeping in this morning, but that didn’t last long. I felt so guilty that I got up, changed the bedding, did two loads of laundry, cleaned up the kitchen, cooked lunch and supper. And petted the dog. Now I’m so tired I want to sleep in (this evening).
What else to do on a weekend, when the silly things lasts seven days straight. No wonder so many fantasize about returning to the workplace. There, at least, we had some demarcation.
Back about a month ago, I was asked to check why a small electrical appliance no longer worked. Simple troubleshooting, once I found a proper size of screwdriver. Turns out that the power cord has a break. Also turns out that it can’t be repaired. The cord has a fancy swivel connector, to keep the tangles at bay. Since the whole thing was generically produced in a Chinese industrial park (yes, I Googled…), no spare parts are available. Not even if I learn a new language, row on over and knock at a side entrance.
Far too many of our “convenient” purchases are designed to be discarded. The idea of something being used for a lifetime is gone, unless you measure that timespan using the mayfly. There’s something wrong with this model.
Go ahead, claim that we are able to spend less to buy more. I’m sure that my grandfather (a blacksmith who repaired other people’s stuff by vocation) didn’t spend a fortune on “this or that or something else”. He also didn’t buy things just to throw them away a season or two after.
