COLUMN: Don’t Mind the Mess – Inconveniences

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/09/2024 (193 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As I write this, my kitchen is stacked full of picnic coolers. No, I’m not getting ready for a day at the beach – I wish. My fridge conked out yesterday, and I had to find a quick way to keep my hard-earned food from spoiling until a repairman had time to figure out why it decided to stop cooling.

I purchased this appliance brand new just three years ago. Much younger than its 30-year-old predecessor – a GE model which got me through a generation of suppers, family gatherings, school lunches and snacks for six kids, before it finally died of sheer exhaustion. It was a simple, basic model that did exactly what it promised to do: keep my food cold. It wasn’t a “smart” refrigerator; I couldn’t monitor its activity on my phone from thousands of miles away while on vacation, and the only water dispenser was a plastic pitcher on the top shelf that we had to take out and refill, although to my chagrin, the kids usually left it empty.

I’m still waiting for the repair guy, as I sniff the coffee cream in the cooler, wondering if it’s already getting sour. I have no idea what the repair bill is going to be – I think there’s still a warranty there somewhere? But I’m already picturing the little surplus I had in my chequing account this month drift away into Nowhere Land.

But such is life.

And then there’s another inconvenience.

My little Ford is at the garage today, where a mechanic is trying to figure out why it won’t acknowledge that the driver’s door is closed. Every time I start it, lights flash and bells ring out, like I’m some kind of celebrity surrounded by paparazzi, telling me that the door is ajar. (It reminds me of that old riddle: When is a door not a door? When it’s ajar.)

The interior lights won’t go off, so driving at night looks like I’m cruising around in a city bus. And the ringing from the control panel is slowly driving me mad. It might be a “sensor thing”, they tell me. Now I’m not sure what a new “sensor thing” is going to cost, but I’m guessing Nowhere Land is going to get a bit more of my paycheque this week.

Here’s hoping that soon, I’ll have a fridge that chills and a car that doesn’t sound like it’s hosting a New Year’s Eve party.

Every generation has a different definition of convenience. My mom felt blessed when she finally got a microwave oven back in the eighties, but even then, she still used her old stove most of the time. Modern conveniences had to grow on her. Even her washing machine had a wringer on it. It never broke down.

Life is full of inconveniences. They usually come along during those rare moments when all our ducks are in a row, life is going well, and we’re taking all our fully functional conveniences for granted. It’s just the way it goes. It doesn’t mean you can’t cherish the smooth roads; just be aware that there may be a few potholes ahead. And the thing about potholes is, once you’ve been able to navigate a few of them, you have some confidence that you’ll be able to manage the next one – somehow.

Maybe it’s okay to be inconvenienced every so often, just so we can appreciate what we have. American author Dan Buettner wrote: “Inconvenience yourself: ditch the remote, the garage door opener, the leaf-blower; buy a bike, broom, rake, and snow shovel.”

He might just have a point there.