Attribution: Photo by Oktomi Jaya on Unsplash
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, has known the keeper forever as a “fixer.” Raised in an era when if something stopped working you “fixed” it and life went on. Add to that the fact that the keeper grew up in a family of talented “fixers” undaunted by any broken thing that didn’t involve excessive bleeding. Cars, tractors, washing machines, bikes alarm clocks, and even broken bones that didn’t protrude. Whatever broke was fixed and put back in service before there was even a remote thought of buying a replacement.
So, when the toaster refused to stay in the “toasting” setting the keeper took it into his tool closet to fix it, ignoring the verity that over his long lifetime “fixing” has been replaced by “throw it away and buy a new one” and to do otherwise is the mark of a fool. The keeper does not remember how long ago it was that he no longer opened the hood of his car, or looked at the back panel of the dryer in a misguided “fixing” mind set.
But he is a slow learner and he and the toaster went into the “fix” mode in the closet and after repeated failure to even access the inner guts of the thing, the keeper’s emotional state deteriorated until excessive force was suddenly employed in a fruitless attempt to access the “inner” toaster. A point of no return was quickly reached with broken pieces of plastic and loose screws and washers.
The keeper made a stop at the trash container on his way to tell Phyllis, “We need to buy a new toaster!”
She did not seem surprised.
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