Going, Going, ......

I read this blog post by Thom Ring "Help Not Wanted", from over on Roadside Online, and he got me thinking about things which used to be that are no longer. I mentioned a few of them in the comment section on his blog. And then this got me to thinking about why we no longer see these things. Now, not that I ever dwell in the past but... ok, I don't dwell in the past I pretty much spend all my time there...but I do get kind of nostalgic at times thinking of "way back then".



Do you remember cobblers? We had two that I know off in my hometown, there was Gregoire's Shoes which was a shoe store and cobbler's shop, and the Florsheim shoe store which I believe also cobbled. There was an art. Today, just throw them away, don't fix them.

How about TV repairmen? Do they even make them anymore? There were several in town, they rode in vans full of tubes and switches and electronic doo-dads, like Gods. Another lost art, why fix something you can buy new at Wal-mart for the same price?

How about some one who could repair your typewriter? You remember those things don't you? They clicked and clacked and dinged. When I first acquired a computer it had Word Perfect installed on it, that was the Cadillac of word processing software before Microsoft cornered the market, and you could actually set the sound to be like a typewriter. Used to drive my office mates crazy, but then for some it was a short trip anyway. But I digress.

I was trained as a butcher back in the day when fresh beef came on a hook not in a bag in a box. You won't find that in any big box super center any more. I bet you couldn't find a "meat cutter" in most chains who could even tie a butcher knot.

Do you ever see upholsteresr upholsteres upholsterers any more? (Maybe it is because no one can spell it) My uncle was a damn good one, he could take that old couch of yours and make it look new, good for another ten years.

How about a mechanic as opposed to a parts changer? Few and far between.

We've lost something in this country. We've lost service, we've lost artisans, we've lost people who can work with their hands and heads. We have become a throw away society where it is cheaper to just toss something away instead of paying someone (if you can find someone) to fix it. It's too bad.

There was nothing like the smell of fresh cut leather being sewn on a new shoe.