TraditionQuality drowning an era of Shoddiness?
.... by D. Grant DeMan
Everywhere I see signs of creeping efficiency. Yesterday two men replaced
an old roof and neither looked at his watch. A decade ago I hired a crew to
do likewise for mine. During successive weeks I rarely caught them working
though I got a bankrupting bill for tiles I had to renew at half the cost
this spring. Seems to be a fresh ethical spirit wafting wild through the
land. Retrograde, some say. Whatever, we may be losing a lazy living
tradition.
It required decades to build a laid back culture of slovenliness and
make-do that is now rapidly falling like the proverbial stage curtain.
Finale! Whatever happened to good old built in obsolescence? Twenty years
back I had to go wake the courier at noon to get my morning Sun. Now Dan
has the Victoria Times-Colonist in the green box by five-thirty AM. Am I
dreaming or what?
If you're old like me and recall the seventies, you'll relate to this
sudden loss of customary values. I remember a conversation with the
cleaner: “Marie, you clean the house regularly, but I found a slice of
pizza under the sofa that I lost back in sixty-eight. What gives?”
“I should move furniture with my back? And for Pete’s sake do those
windows. I can't find the beer in here. By the way I'm raising my fee three
bucks an hour. A lady’s gotta live right, these days.” What happened? Now
cleaners swoop in like tornadoes on Vitamite, even wax the attic, and are
gone by sunup asking only pocket coin. I want to change the color of a
carpet, but it won't wear out.
In the early nineties I bought a computer, pleading the merchant be gentle
to this poor novice. He was sufficiently gentle to peddle me a used top
priced floor model - instantly superseded by a next generation - which
crashed more than Titanic Airlines, and a memory lasting only to the second
web page. Took an engineer to get it running. For only twice the price of
my new one that does everything but haircuts, which I had it un-boxed and
running in minutes. Alone. When I complained to the Texas service folks
about a sticky keyboard X, a fresh one arrived next morning. What in the
world is happening here?
A friend claims his new condo does not leak. Spooky! Pens won't ooze
anymore either.
My bank pays me to buy groceries, and no service charge ever! The balance
is correct. What is transpiring? Where's the tradition of threatening self
immolation to get an accounting? Bill paying takes five minutes, no stamps
required. And the grocery store gives us free clothing to boot.
The other day a glassed picture arrived in the mail intact. I asked the
postmaster what went wrong, for just a few years ago they were capable of
demolishing high impact plastic. “The parcel crushing elephant at the main
office died, I suppose,” is all he murmured. What kind of excuse is that?
Is there no feeling of continuity these days? Even in government?
Seriously, can't we expect worse?
Years back I got an estimate from a fast muffler shop. The computer rattled
out a list as long as a Labor Day ferry lineup, the total exceeding an NDP
debt, so I ordered a $14.95 Mexican job from MUFFLER, Del Rio Texas,
installed with the help of a friend. Last week Big O replaced a part for a
low flat rate, though the owner worked into the night to complete the job.
When I offered extra he replied with a smile, “That’s okay. Part of the
service,” and handed me a coupon for the next lube. Somehow I missed that
old seventies mechanic's con: “Those brakes and tires will kill your family
if they’re not replaced,” even with new vehicle owners! A strange mutation
is afoot. Creepy.
Clocks and watches run for years on a dime's worth of batteries - never
loose a minute. Spray cans spray till they’re empty. Shave foam foams
eternally. Shoes last for…the last two dollar pair won't wear out. Remember
the sixties? One good soaking and there went fifty bucks. Warped single
pane windows stuck either open or shut.
Zeller's just replaced my limb lopper, busted after only one year’s use,
sans shouting match, or call to an attorney help line. The manager smiled,
thanking me for my custom. Is nothing sacred?
I'll tell you, we are allowing the old ways to slip.What’s next? Newsprint
that won't rub off on hands, and clothes, and then our face and…what?..
here already? No, don't tell me that. I haven't seen a television repair
person for years. Light bulbs burn eternally. Seeds sprout and grow.
Sometimes I'm afraid to face the future with traditional values dying,
stuff that won't break down. Folks who actually work better than they talk.
Jobs that are done on time.
And my bride looks younger each day. OOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Perhaps soon the Federal Government might actually compensate those
Hepatitis C folks, victims of the early eighties and nineties. Now that
would be a great change in traditional values. You betcha!
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