Tonight, as I cut my hair with my electric clippers -- me hair was nearly one-quarter inches long! -- I again marveled at how well the clippers cut after 15 years of use. I've never had the clippers serviced nor have I had the blades sharpened, yet it cuts about as well as when I first purchased it.
I think the primary reason these clippers have maintained their sharp edge for so long is due to the routine I follow. Each time before I begin cutting my hair, I squirt a little clipper oil into the blades. As soon as I finish shearing my locks, I immediately clean my clippers with a tiny brush. By keeping to this routine, my hair cutting machine stays in tip top shape.
While this has been my habitual pattern for the past dozen years or so, I must admit that I wasn't so fastidious at the outset. It dawned on me one day when I noticed that my clippers weren't looking so hot that a little bit of care before and after would serve me well in the long term. I even remember hearing my grandpa's words in my head -- waste not, want not.
My maternal grandparents, like many others of their generation, lived through the Great Depression. This taught them how tenuous life can be. During this period of US history, people lost massive fortunes in the blink of an eye, while average Joes and Janes struggled to find work so they could keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.
Because dollars were few and far between, people were forced by circumstances to live frugally. Folks simply couldn't afford to waste things as there was a real possibility that such things couldn't be replaced!
Overcook dinner a tad? You ate it anyway. Tear a hole in a sleeve or pair of pants? You sewed and patched it. Mechanical device break down? You fixed it as best you could. Waste not, want not was the motto of the day.
In time, however, America emerged out of the bleak economic times. Spurred on by a growing prosperity, many people quickly forgot the lessons learned only a few years earlier. This process was aggravated by a new business strategy -- the production of stuff that didn't last very long and, because the majority had more disposable income, they could replace whatever they desired.
Before we knew it, the US had become the great throwaway society. It seemed that EVERYTHING was now made of plastic. As soon as some consumer product malfunctioned, wore out or was no longer in fashion, people simply chucked it in the garbage can and went out to buy a new one. We became a nation of giant landfills packed full of useless, non-biodegradable, toxic crap!
And so, as we now struggle with the new economic down times, people are again starting to find the necessity to learn how to live the frugal life. Waste not, want not is fast becoming today's motto for many families.
Of course, the big question is -- if we ever get out of the current recession/depression -- will people learn the valuable message that Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu taught thousands of years ago? When we lead a simple (i.e., frugal) lifestyle, we are less apt to be adversely affected by the economic climate of the external society.
When waste not, want not is our modus operandi, we can live a bountiful life with less -- less crap that we didn't NEED in the first place.
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
I think the primary reason these clippers have maintained their sharp edge for so long is due to the routine I follow. Each time before I begin cutting my hair, I squirt a little clipper oil into the blades. As soon as I finish shearing my locks, I immediately clean my clippers with a tiny brush. By keeping to this routine, my hair cutting machine stays in tip top shape.
While this has been my habitual pattern for the past dozen years or so, I must admit that I wasn't so fastidious at the outset. It dawned on me one day when I noticed that my clippers weren't looking so hot that a little bit of care before and after would serve me well in the long term. I even remember hearing my grandpa's words in my head -- waste not, want not.
My maternal grandparents, like many others of their generation, lived through the Great Depression. This taught them how tenuous life can be. During this period of US history, people lost massive fortunes in the blink of an eye, while average Joes and Janes struggled to find work so they could keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.
Because dollars were few and far between, people were forced by circumstances to live frugally. Folks simply couldn't afford to waste things as there was a real possibility that such things couldn't be replaced!
Overcook dinner a tad? You ate it anyway. Tear a hole in a sleeve or pair of pants? You sewed and patched it. Mechanical device break down? You fixed it as best you could. Waste not, want not was the motto of the day.
In time, however, America emerged out of the bleak economic times. Spurred on by a growing prosperity, many people quickly forgot the lessons learned only a few years earlier. This process was aggravated by a new business strategy -- the production of stuff that didn't last very long and, because the majority had more disposable income, they could replace whatever they desired.
Before we knew it, the US had become the great throwaway society. It seemed that EVERYTHING was now made of plastic. As soon as some consumer product malfunctioned, wore out or was no longer in fashion, people simply chucked it in the garbage can and went out to buy a new one. We became a nation of giant landfills packed full of useless, non-biodegradable, toxic crap!
And so, as we now struggle with the new economic down times, people are again starting to find the necessity to learn how to live the frugal life. Waste not, want not is fast becoming today's motto for many families.
Of course, the big question is -- if we ever get out of the current recession/depression -- will people learn the valuable message that Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu taught thousands of years ago? When we lead a simple (i.e., frugal) lifestyle, we are less apt to be adversely affected by the economic climate of the external society.
When waste not, want not is our modus operandi, we can live a bountiful life with less -- less crap that we didn't NEED in the first place.
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
This is why, contrary to those such as Al Gore who want to comfort us with the thought that the choice between economic growth and environmental preservation is a false one, economic decline is the best hope for the preservation of the earth as a livable place.
ReplyDeleteIf the Great Depression didn't permanently hammer this lesson into people's heads, after all, this relatively small recession certainly won't.
Here is my insight. The useless crap we threw away used to be made in America. Due to corpoate greed jobs were shipped overseas. We now buy useless crap from China. We throw this away, destroying our country. We already gravely in debt to China, and they continue to grow more powerful, while we deteriate. Sad
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