I noticed an odd thing in Chicago: there were a disproportionate number of people on scooters. Not Vespas, mind you, but Go-Go-type Scooters. They were absolutely everywhere; I couldn't walk a block without seeing someone motoring away down the sidewalk. There were scooters in the museums, at the Pritzker Pavilion and perusing the Magnificent Mile. I ducked into the Gap to buy a swimsuit so I could take a dip in the hotel pool, and a woman motored into the line in front of me on her scooter.
I live in a city nearly five times the size of Chicago, and I can't remember the last time I saw a power electric scooter (is that not redundant, power electric?). Mind you, I've seen people using wheelchairs (traditional and motorized), hand-crank cycles, canes, crutches and many other mobility-enhancing implements, but New York seems relatively low on scooters. Why is this? Is New York anti-scooter? I'm not aware of any anti-scooter sentiments here, but it's not a subject I've given much thought, to be frank. Maybe it's the narrower sidewalks or the relative hilliness of certain neighborhoods or the impossibly cramped aisles of virtually every retail establishment in Manhattan. I'm just not sure.
I welcome your theories.
When I was growing up, our appliances and electronics seemed to last an awfully long time. I think my parents had the same washer and dryer for at least twenty years and we had a microwave the size of a sedan until I was in high school. Our VCR lasted from 1984, when my parents surprised us with it on Christmas morning, until it was replaced with a DVD player sometime in the mid- to late-1990s. We replaced our 12-inch, 500-pound television (which had a handle on the top, ostensibly to make it "portable", even though you'd risk paralysis by herniated disk if you ever tried to lift it) once it was hopelessly out of date, but it was still functioning just fine. In fact, it probably still is, wherever it may now reside.
At the risk of sounding Andy Rooney-esque, they don't make stuff like they used to. Our DVD player, which is already our second one in six years of marriage and is encased in the amp for our mediocre home theater system, has decided that it will only recognize a disc if you put it in, take it out and turn the unit on and off about 650 times. On attempts 1 through 649, it flashes "No Disc" on the readout screen and makes vaguely threatening noises. When we want to watch a movie, we have to start the process at least half an hour early to accommodate this turn of events. We also just bought a new laptop because the previous one, at a creaky five years old, was so grudging about accomplishing the most basic of computing tasks that you wanted to go Office Space on it every five minutes.
Meanwhile, our oven, which was installed barely two years ago, no longer has a proper door seal. The window shades we have in our bedroom can't be raised or lowered anymore, and when I called the store where we bought them to find out if we could get them repaired, the woman said, "Let me guess, you have the Duet? About three years old?" Indeed.
Clearly these household items were not made for prolonged use, nor, it seems, should we even expect them to be. Which also goes for labor; the shower that we had tiled just before we moved in (three and a half years ago) is now in such poor shape, thanks to a failure by our contractor to properly waterproof the area before slapping the tile up there, that we need to have it demolished and done over again lest we be eaten by toxic mold and mildew.
I know I sound crotchety, but give me a break. We're single-handedly holding up the economy simply by virtue of the shrunken useful life of stuff, which has gone from twenty-some years to three. I just hope a Go-Go scooter lasts longer than most of our stuff, or there are going to be a lot of people in Chicago with no way to get around. (See how I did that? (OMG, so lame, I know)).
Major appliances used to be made by hand, on the line, in some corn-fed American town. With heavy steel, and substantial hardware, and pride. Now it's all punched out of thin sheets of reconstituted, stainless-steel plated amalgam metals, and popped together by robots using pressure guns. IN CHINA.
I guess you could blame it on Communism? No?
(ps - I've lived in Chicago for 7 years now, and never noticed a rascal on the sidewalk. Odd. I'm immune, apparently. My theory is that those scooters aren't fast enough for NYC sidewalks - and even if they were, could the riders steer around all the bags of trash lying around? I think not.)
Posted by: Jamie | July 17, 2009 at 12:42 AM
I'm not sure how common scooters are in New York, but I love the episode of Seinfeld where George fakes an injury and gets his own Rascal.
Posted by: Amy K | July 17, 2009 at 02:30 AM
My parents STILL use the very first microwave that they bought back in the 80's. My mom keeps hoping it will die so that she can get something that isn't such a huge monstrosity, but in this case quality workmanship isn't helping her out. We had a DVD player that lasted about 9 months before my husband took it out in the yard and smashed it to bits because of the same problem you're having with yours!
Posted by: Jeanne | July 17, 2009 at 07:14 AM
The USA's entire economy is based on consumption. There is no room for buying something and not replacing it again within a few years. Nor can we afford for you to buy anything on which you do not pay interest.
Now hush and buy a 3rd vacuum cleaner this year. (my personal pet peeve)
Posted by: Kyle | July 17, 2009 at 08:57 AM
I feel this entire rant in the depths of my soul, and I'm 29, so I join the ranks of the young and crotchety. Lawyerish, SING IT. (I can't believe your parents threw out a perfectly-working TV! They must not have had the crystal ball that would allow them to see what crap their nice new TV would likely turn out to be!)
I do not, however, feel the comment of your first commenter, Jamie, on China. Yes, some crap comes from China. Some good stuff comes from China, too. China doesn't corner the market on cheaply-made crap -- we Americans have made plenty of that ourselves (see: American cars of the last several decades). Jamie, your point would have worked just as well without that last bit -- it was, IMO, unnecessary, a teeny bit racist, and a larger bit "let's blame the rest of the world for our ills! Go America!" SOMEBODY pushed the market to where it is now, and I'll give you a hint: it wasn't the Chinese.
Posted by: Shana | July 17, 2009 at 08:58 AM
Yesterday there was a man at the park/walking trail in a scooter. He wanted to pet someone's dog (a boxer). The man let his dog approach the guy in the scooter and jump at him. He ended up scratching the guy, and the dog owner said "Russell! You shouldn't jump on people. That's not nice."
1. Russell? For a dog? Really?
2. Way to talk to him like a person. I'm surprised he didn't get put in time out.
This really has nothing to do with the guy in the scooter...
Posted by: 3carnations | July 17, 2009 at 10:18 AM
@Shana - my apologies. My mini-rant on the China thing (including Communist dig) was written in sarcatic jest -- my sense of humor, for better or worse. I think Lawyerish could vouch for my moral character, should you choose to ask her, in this situation.
While I may be opinionated (for which I make no apologies), I am most emphatically NOT racist. Sorry to offend!
Posted by: Jamie | July 17, 2009 at 01:54 PM
I KNOW. My parents still had the RECORD PLAYER THEY GOT AS A WEDDING PRESENT just a few years ago, and it was still working when they got rid of it. Meanwhile, we're on our fourth CD player in less than ten years.
I interpreted Jamie's comment as a joke---like, a tongue-in-cheek rendition of what some people say is the problem (while banging their fists on their rusting Ford pick-ups for emphasis).
Posted by: Swistle | July 17, 2009 at 02:28 PM
I'm sort of embarrassed to admit this, but I bought a TV in 1984 and we still use it! It is JC Penney brand (but I believe it was made by RCA) and I'll keep that thing until it dies for this very reason. Nothing lasts anymore! We've purchased newer televisions that haven't lasted so I'm hanging on to this one. I was a little nervous when I first heard about the DTV transition and my kids were not happy when we found out it'll still work because we have cable!
Posted by: H | July 17, 2009 at 04:40 PM
I am loving these comments. Down with shoddy goods! Long live the durable stuff of the 1970s and 80s!
And Kyle reminded me that our vaccuum -- a Dyson, which I love -- is getting a little tired and crappy. It's three years old. Time for a new one!
Shana, I absolutely appreciate and agree with what you're saying in substance. I can also say that I take Jamie at her word that she was being facetious and didn't mean to offend -- she's cool and as un-racist and
un-cultural-imperialist as they come.
Posted by: Lawyerish | July 17, 2009 at 05:51 PM
May I recommend a viewing of The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard (you can find the video on youtube, or check out the website www.storyofstuff.com. It touches on EXACTLY this point - consumerism and things no longer being made to last. Very interesting.
Posted by: Shan | July 18, 2009 at 11:36 AM
The relative cost of stuff has gone down, too, which makes it SEEM more attractive, when really it's just cheaper. I have this fight with John ALL THE TIME- saving ourselves $50 or $100 now on a dresser is NOT GOOD ECONOMICS in the long run if it means the thing will only last 2 years because it's essentially held together with masking tape and hope.
Posted by: pseudostoops | July 18, 2009 at 05:22 PM
It's called planned obsolescence, and they do it on purpose. And it's infuriating.
Posted by: lizgwiz | July 21, 2009 at 12:32 PM