Remote Conveniences
We have so many conveniences and modern gadgetry to make life simple, to free our time, to allow more relaxation, but I'm not sure these things are meeting their intended end. I'm finding life can be confusing at times wondering which convenience to use and hoping it won't break down or disappear in the middle of use.
The other day my husband couldn't understand why the television wouldn't turn on. He kept pressing the "ON" button of the remote. Why wasn't it working?
Meanwhile I had my own problem to solve. I wanted to know who started the car in the garage and left it running. It had to be my youngest daughter, the only child home, so I was traveling the house looking for her to ask why she started up the car. I was ready to blast her for the gathering fumes in the garage, and remind her that she doesn't have a license yet so who did she expect to drive, and why hadn't she asked someone to take her out?
I'm trying to solve my problem and my husband who feels his problem is more important keeps calling me to help him figure out the remote for the television. "Did someone take out the batteries again?" He's calling me. "Come and help figure this out."
I take one look at the contraption in his hand and say, "No problem. Instead of turning on the television you've started up the car."
An hour later I'm scouring the drug store looking for my favorite bra and underwear (made by the same company) and find out the manufacturer has gone out of business. The sales girl shows me a bin with left over bras and panties from the discontinued line. The only one my size is a wire in black. I hate wires but I buy it anyway because I have a special function coming up and I want to look good.
While in the drug store I decide to stock up on makeup. I only wear a little blush, mascara, and lipstick. It took me years to find a brand I like. I turn the corner and head down the aisle toward my favorite display and, you guessed it; the manufacturer is no longer making the products I've come to love. They've gone back to specializing in facial creams. Now what will I do?
I go to the aisle that holds hair colour and find out the manufacturer has changed the name and numbering system on the box. Number seven is now called Morocco, and the picture looks nothing like the hair colour I usually purchase. Now I must start over, taking strands of my hair and holding them up to the box looking for a match.
As I walk away from the drug store with my new wire bra and light brown hair colour I hear my mother's voice in the back of my head, "Remember Dr. Katz's eighty exercises to create new dendrites?" To the voice in my head I answer, "I don't need Dr. Katz's exercises. Manufacturers are putting enough challenges out there, creating new gadgets for convenience, and changing packaging, forcing me to create new dendrites."