Why Fix It? Just Buy Another One

In the last week my father and my father-in-law have both come to visit. In random, casual conversation both of them mentioned something about “having it fixed”. My father-in-law said he was having a television fixed, even though it was a small, relatively cheap television in his house of seven big screens. My daughter mentioned that her camera malfunctioned when see zoomed in on something and my father’s response was, “Is it something that you can go have fixed?”

 

In both instances I was caught off guard by their statements. They’re both “older” gentlemen from a long forgotten and much ignored era and it made me conscious of what a “throw away” society we’ve become. I know that somethings will always be “fixer” items, like cars and houses, perhaps major appliances, but for the most part we’ve become a world of replacement.

 

Cell phones, digital cameras, watches, and other similar items are so inexpensive these days that fixing them is quite often more expensive than buying a new one. I know there will always be high-end, high dollar items or items that aren’t replaceable that people would want to have fixed, (things of sentimental value), but more times than not the broken item is going straight to the trash.

 

This isn’t a ground breaking theory by any means and I’m sure that a lot of people are hip to this subject, but it wasn’t the fact that we throw away all of this stuff that really shocked me. What threw me for a loop was that my frame of mind isn’t to think of fixing something. I don’t even know of any “repair shops” in my neighborhood. When something I own breaks, the first thought I have is, “Time to buy a new one.”

 

What’s more scary is that this kind of mindset contaminates all of our thinking patterns. Girlfriend won’t do as I ask? Get a new one. Husband is annoying? Get a new one. Child is retarded? Send it to live with its mother.

 

Having a “throw away” attitude makes us lazy. We become quitters. There’s no reason to see value in something if it’s replaceable. There’s no reason to take care of anything if it isn’t special and it can’t be special if it’s fleeting.

 

Take this blog for instance. Once it gets all preachy and whiney it’s time to find a funny one!

 

Egg On!

Ramblin’ Rooster