The other day my daughter called and spoke about her non functioning dishwasher. I immediately suggested she call a repairman to look into the situation. He gave her the heads up that the "house call" would cost her one hundred dollars. He came he saw and he left. The 4 year old dishwasher had a faulty control panel and it would cost five hundred dollars to replace. He then suggested that she just buy another machine.
Last year our 2003 GM Tracker (really a Suziki with an American name) had a rattle in the engine. The mechanics at several auto repair shops told me that the offending noisy timing belt was no longer available and much too costly to change at any rate. The solution they suggested was to buy a new car.
Last fall on one of our last motor boat cruises I noticed a slipping jerking motion when the engine ran at full speed. Full speed being relative in that it is only a six horsepower engine. Before I winterized the motor I ask a mechanic about the problem. He said. "they have now changed the propeller design so instead of a sheer-pin to stop a tangled propeller they now use a rubber bushing that wears out and requires a whole new prop every few years".
I remember back in my teaching years. I rode my bicycle to school for much of the year. I began to notice "fallen" bikes. They seemed to be abandoned everywhere. Leaning against garages, and trees, fences and bushes, bikes were starting to litter the neighborhood. So I asked my class one day to collect the discarded bikes, bring them to school, and we would see what could be done. Such a variety we collected. From small dirt to full sized racers in colours and genders. I was shocked to see that, all but a few of them had nothing more disabling than a flat tire or rusted chain. I was further shocked to realize that no one in a sixth grade class could tell me how to pump up a tire, let alone how to change one. It seemed that it was much easier to just buy a new one. My work was cut out for me.
I started in an effort to sway popular opinion that "dirty work is stupid",( as one student bluntly described our efforts). Actually she was not far off. Parents want their children to work at a desk in these days of the information economy. The cognitive richness of manual work has been suppressed by quick returns and seductive wages. White collar good , blue collar bad. Students are encouraged that universities will lead to rich financial security. Shop, and Home Economics classes are a thing of the past as we seem to let our direct experience of the world slip away.
All this changed when the resurrected machines began to roll off the line. We repaired cleaned oiled and polished until we had turned old into new. Pride in a job well done is such a valuable commodity. Attention deepened, discipline unnecessary, skill competence grew, and I witnessed valued and enthusiastic conversations as groups determined certain courses of action. We were all transformed.
With all these thoughts I was delighted to see the old garage at the crossroads of our village re-open as a business refurbishing old 1960's Airstreem Caravans. The built in endurance of these trailers make their style attractive to our disposable culture. These trailers represent a design of function over form, a design that feels strong durable and secure. Strengthen the things that remain.
