Friday, February 28, 2014

Broken Things

There used to be a repair shop
next to the bridge.
Out back lay piles of stuff,
rusted, bent, broken
but maybe useful - for parts.

It’s gone now.
In its place
is a lovely little café with
outdoor seating
and a view of the river.

And today we throw away
all our broken things.


For G-man's FF55
I grew up in a little town next to the little town of Cedarburg, Wisconsin where my grandparents lived. Several times a week we would go over the bridge and pass the little repair shop that was just behind the Texaco station (which is now a rather high-end jewelry shop).  Now, "Historic Cedarburg welcomes you!"  It has, "specialty stores, wineries, charming restaurants, gracious inns and a full calendar of festivals and events...."  But no repair shops. 

*Quotes from www.cedarburg.org

25 comments:

  1. So true isn't it. Things today are made to be replaced, not repaired. In our little town my best friend's parents owned a TV repair shop, back when televisions were all tubes and diodes instead of liquid crystal (LCD) or plasma. Radios, toasters, mixers, blenders--there were handymen that repaired those too. We lost something in the simplicity of those days. Thanks for bringing back the memories, Mary.

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    1. You're welcome Ginny. Thanks for reading. It is frustrating when things are made to break, and not be fixed even if you try.

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  2. I've also seen numerous repair shops close down, as everyone kept on buying new stuff when something broke, it's quite sad actually. Today's norm is to throw away and buy new, in an endless cycle!

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  3. You and I were on a similar wavelength this week! Love your infamous repair shop- thanks!

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    1. Oh wow - I just read yours. We were! Thanks for reading.

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  4. sad, we do throw away the broken things....i remember the joy of finding these places as a kid and seeing all the possibilities in the junk....

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    1. Yes! All that cool stuff. I think that's how steampunk got started.

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  5. So true--everything is made to have no real lasting value, only an initial usefulness that can be discarded and replaced infinitely. I remember some of the common household things in my grandparent's house--they were heavy, substantial, and expected to give a long life of function--no one would have dreamed of throwing out and replacing them for a minor problem that could be fixed. Also, remember shoe repair shops? Does anybody get their shoes resoled nowdays? Thanks for this very pragmatic look at our culture of using, Mary.

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    1. Oh yeah. In fact I still have and use my mom's old waffle iron, probably from the 60's. I know of a shoe repair shop where I live now, but I have to admit I've never had a pair of shoes resoled.

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  6. Such a deep felt post here, as we are also a victim to the loss of the old repair shop!

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    1. Thank you Karen. I've been thinking about broken things for awhile, and I am messing around with something longer that includes broken people, marriages, systems and so on.

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  7. I remember Cedarburg, but not the shop. I used to live in Madison.

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  8. Well hey there neighbor! I want to say the name of the shop was Gary's Resale, but I know there is (still) a Gary's Rock Shop, so I may be confusing the two.

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  9. Yes, nowadays products don't last that long and we are always throwing away broken things ~

    I remember those years when we would fix things rather than throw them away ~

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  10. Replace and not repair because then they can suck even more money out of us

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  11. Mary....
    My garage seems to have found all of that missing
    inventory of junk. So if you REALLY want to walk down
    Memory Lane, come visit.....:P
    Loved your nostalgic 55
    Thanks for another Top Shelf contribution.
    You Rock From The Dells to Manitowoc
    Have a Kick Ass Week-End

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    1. Hahaha - why does that not surprise me? You have a good weekend too Galen.

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  12. There's a guy in the area where I live who makes metal sculptures out of things like old mufflers. Its pretty cool.

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  13. the fetish of the new... ~

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  14. It's a shame we live in such a throwaway society.

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