Monday Morning: Economic Struggles and the Challenge of Repairs!

It's Monday morning, and we wake up and we're still alive and kicking!

”Things” may not be all that great, and I know a lot of people are suffering both economically and in other ways, but we're alive and kicking.

So where do we find our inspiration?

It's easy to hang our heads and start complaining about how ”things are tough” and we feel like we want to give up.

I look around me and I do find myself regularly pondering how we're gonna make it through another day, another week, another month, another year given the trajectory our personal situation — and the world in general — is on.

One of the things I've noticed about life when you're struggling is that it such things as repairs and replacements that get postponed further and further.

You're surrounded by things you know "need to" be addressed, but you choose to not do anything about them until they're actually "on fire" and breaking down because you otherwise need that money to pay for your food and keep your electricity turned on.

We have a lot of things that ”need fixing” but are not getting fixed because we either can’t afford the service call (not all things are DIY, you know!), or we can’t afford the parts to repair something because the price of those parts has likely doubled, because we live in a society in which the ”right to repair” is often in question.

In fact, there are many situations in which you can't even get the needed parts because the few that are made are supplied only to "authorized repair services" that typically charge $300 simply to get in the van to come out of look at the problem.

We recently encountered that with our oven.

In short, manufactures want consumers to ”buy a new one,” not try to fix the one they already have.

When I was a poor college student — 40-odd years ago — we had a number of local repair shops that could fix anything from a toaster or hair dryer, to TVs, stereo equipment and major appliances… usually for a very reasonable price.

Now we’re expected to just willingly fork over $1,000 for a new smartphone when our current one goes on the fritz. And forget about ”warranty work” because there are a million ways for the warranty to ”not apply in this case” so you’re likely to be screwed.

Sometimes I can't help but think of how the USA is held forth to be the richest country in the world, and yet it has a homeless population in excess of 650,000, which — in turn — represents about 10% of the entire population of my native Denmark. Granted, Denmark's a pretty small country… but still, it offers a sense of perspective.

In truth, actual homelessness is a pretty poor measure of wealth, as is actual poverty. Perhaps the closest to an actual indication of how things are in the USA is represented by United Way's ALICE Project which measures households' ability to live and meet "basic expenses" in life... and that's not a pretty picture.

Well, that's probably enough for my "Monday angst" for this week... better just get back to work, and get another roll of ducktape to hold life together!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a good week!

Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!

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Created at 2024-08-12 12:05 PDT
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