I love to think of the “why?” of things.
There are always reasons for people’s actions. Even the most inexplicable random act by a person has some reason. Now, it may be difficult to discover what that reason is exactly, but there is a reason for it nevertheless.
So, I wonder why so many things seem so impermanent; why do people just not care?
At the Kroger supermarket – at least the ones near me – it is impossible to buy one of those toilet plungers with a wooden handle. The only one they carry is a plastic version in a double-pack with a toilet scrubber.
Anyone ever unstopped a toilet? Its kind of a rough thing to do – both psychologically and physically. Is a plastic plunger really going to hold up?
Oh, not to mention the fact that it was $14.99.
So, the other day, I didn’t want this plastic one, so I went to the Walgreens instead. Surely they would have it!
Actually, they don’t carry a normal, old-school potty pumper. At least they had the plastic version by itself for $8.50.
Why is it that the first world takes almost no value in the concept of permanence?
This barn was being repainted today:
The boys we talked to, hired hands at the farm, talked of how old the barn was. Something like 1927, maybe? 1924. And they were astonished that the barn survived. 80-something years is ridiculously old in their mind!
Right down the road is this old house:
The historical marker on the side of the building announces that this is actually the building immortalized by Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” This is called now the Rankin House, but in the mid-1800’s it was an Underground Railroad station.
Not gonna lie, that’s pretty impressive. That places this house no younger than 175 years old. Of course, it has been restored and preserved, but…
In the United States, you would be hard pressed to find many things older than that.
Is that the problem? Over in Europe, it is not uncommon to actively live in a house from the 1700’s or even the 1500’s in some places. The oldest of the old parked along side the newest skyscrapers and modern buildings. How many times do you hear of an old historical building downtown being torn down for a new expansion of the downtown?
I was told the story of my university’s president going overseas to Scandicci, Italy, when they were preparing to purchase a villa to house their Italy international programs. While they toured the house and grounds with the real estate agent, the university president was asking all the usual questions that people do when buying a structure.
“How old is the roof?” he asked, “When was it replaced last?”
And the real estate agent, puzzled by the question, replied, “Umm… Never.”
Best I remember, the villa was built in the 16th century. Italian buildings of this sort have the terra cotta tile roof, it never needs to be replaced.
This is not a critique of my university’s president, of course! Coming from a culture where a shingle roof has to be replaced every 12-15 years, why wouldn’t he ask that? Its a standard question all home buyers/renters should ask.
We build our homes to house our families… in structures that the big bad wolf could easily blow down. We build our cars out cars with plastic parts and then are surprised when we need a new one in a decade. We manufacture our plungers with plastic handles, mark up the price, and then are surprised when the economy gets so bad that some people have to feed their kids at the soup kitchen.
Is this for real?
I’m not overly singing anyone’s praises, Europe and the rest of the world is being covered in junk and plastic buildings and plungers as we speak. But it is the remnants of a bygone era that still stand and they still use, something that the New World does not have the luxury in which to grow up: terra cotta tile roofs, marble brick buildings, cobblestone streets, a castle on the hillside from the 1100’s.
Perhaps we should be a little bit more conscious of the fact that there is a certain dignity and honor in building something that lasts. Not just because it won’t break down and decompose – that stupid $8.50 plunger will still be here in a landfill after it breaks for an eon.
When people realize its not about making money and worshiping the Almighty Dollar, maybe we will stop building temples to it that have to be rebuilt in 20 years and get back to the things that matter, the things that last, the things that makes life great.
Stay tuned…
-Noah D.
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PS: This ferry was put in the water in the 1940’s and it still carries my truck across just as it has for 70 years. Notice the metal deck, shiny in some places from use.
And, yes, they still use a ferry across the Ohio River.
