Do you remember the days when things were built to last? Yeah, me neither. It seems business has taken a tip from nature and deliberately designed merchandise to stop working after a certain period of time. Of course, unlike nature, most items don’t biodegrade in the user’s lifetime but that’s a post for another day. 

For now, we focused on knowing that our phones will need to be upgraded in 2 years, home appliances will last 5 years, mattresses designed for 20 years need to be replaced in 8 years. Ad nauseum. Yes, it does make me sick.

When my grandfather passed away, I inherited his hair clippers. Clippers that I use to this day. 
 I don’t know when it was purchased, could be the ’50s or even ’40s. I do know it was before the invention of the zip code and had an extension for the phone not numbers.

I keep them oiled, and they keep cutting my husband’s hair. Who knows, my son may inherit them one day.

All of which got me thinking. Soon we’ll be in the age of robots.

Robots to clean our houses.

Robots to cook our food.

Robots to drive us around.

Robots designed to malfunction in a few years.

And there in lies the nugget of a great story. Maybe one I’ll write. 

So now you know a secret. Like many writers, I can find story ideas in the everything. It’s finding the time to write that is the problem.

Until next time.