THEY DON'T MAKE THINGS LIKE THEY USED TO

“They don’t make things like they used to!”

As a kid I can remember my parents, especially my father, saying that.  Dad was even more of a perfectionist than I am.  He used to lament the loss of the kind of nineteenth-century craftsmanship whereby someone would built a house to last for two hundred years, using only the best quality materials and workmanship- a house that would truly be a work of art.  That craftsmanship was also true of metal work, tools, really any product of construction and workmanship.  

Have you ever seen the Canton, Massachusetts railroad viaduct?  It’s a giant railroad bridge made of ornate stonework which looks almost exactly like a Roman aqueduct.  It’s the only one of its kind in America.  I’m told there IS one just like it in Russia.  Architects MARVEL at the Canton viaduct, built in the 1840s.  Can you imagine such a thing EVER being constructed or even considered today?  Believe me, it would never happen.

Our church bought a brand new combination telephone and answering machine just a few weeks ago.  Several days ago, it had a meltdown.  It would not work or function at all.  I used my cell phone to call for service.  I spent fifteen minutes listening to an annoying recording about, “Your call is important to us”.  Someone finally got on the phone.  He could not “think outside the box”.  It was scary.  I honestly knew more than he did!  He didn’t know what to do.  FInally, he guessed, “Unplug it for fifteen minutes and plug it back in and see if it works.”  It did.  BUT I was left with a very bad feeling.  When you bought a phone in the 1960s you could be sure of it working flawlessly for at least twenty-five years.  When you bought an answering machine in the 1970s (when they were introduced) you were sure of it working well for at least ten years.  Today?  It something gives you no problems for a year, you’re happy!

I like Apple computers, but, honestly, our four-year-old iMac has had two total crashes in which we lost EVERYTHING.  The last time was sixteen months ago.  For you Windows users who are laughing, I’ve heard even worse stories about some of those!  Speaking of computers, today’s automobiles are far too computer dependent.  About a year ago, a man who works for a new car dealership which sells Rolls Royce and Bentley told me horror stories of more than one customer who’d experienced great frustration with their brand new  Rolls or Bentley.  In every such case, the car had less than a thousand miles on the odometer, the car’s computer just froze,  and the car  would not run!  The 1963 Dodge Dart I was driving thirty-five years ago would look pretty good right now!

I’d love to have new products you can depend on!

Romans 12:11 speaks of, “...not slothful in business...”
That’s the real problem.  It’s the lazy bums that design and build the materials we use.  

“Should the Lord tarry” as we evangelicals say, and our present world system lasts until, say, the year 2046, do you suppose people will be saying, “I’d like to go back to 2006- now, they REALLY had QUALITY merchandise back then!”?  Boy, it’s kind of a scary thought!