Would you like shoes that never need to be shined or a lawn that never needs to be mowed?
At what point do we resist convenience in favor of the joys of maintenance? Although we may gripe about yard work, mowing grass and clipping hedges may be some of the more satisfying chores in our life. We can see the tangible improvement and the job itself has a rugged appeal. An added advantage is that it forces us to be outdoors.
Psychologist Clotaire Rapaille found that Americans do not want a automobile that would never break down because they prefer variety. Being stuck with the same car for life - even a perfectly functioning one - does not appeal to them. So it goes, I suspect, with maintenance.
In short, many of our chores aren't really chores.
2 comments:
The more I work on my 1999 Camry w/ 250k+ miles, the more animate it feels. You don't name your personal possessions that require minimal or no tinkering, right? Maintenance is the placing of your mark onto something not living...and the more you maintain, the more alive it seems.
Not too soon and you start talking to it, knowing the item is a Calvin Coolidge type of listener, which you need at times to blow off steam. In a world that seems to be ever more out of one's personal control, it's comforting to have a socket wrench in one hand and an oil pan plug screw in another, with a driplet of 10W-30 on your cheek.
You are absolutely correct on this. I enjoy shining shoes, I like to mow the yard. I even ironing shirts. I call it therapy of the mundane. It is more than going for a walk because we look back and see a tangible accomplishment. We need to do these things from time to time. Darkov has it right. It can be a form of blowing off steam or just a resetting for us.
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