Things Must Be Bad

On Friday while running some errands I happened to glance over at the “Vacuum Cleaner Repair Shop” that has been located in a run-down strip center in Franklin TN for at least as many years as I’ve lived here- since 1994. In all those years I have never actually seen anyone entering, exiting, inside or parked outside of said shop. I always wondered how they stayed in business, and also wondered- who gets vacuum cleaners repaired anymore?

How strange that on that day, as I glanced at the little shop for probably the five thousandth time (its right in my line of sight as a make a regular turn on or from the road to my house) I saw a few cars in the parking lot, and a couple walking into the store (emerging from a shiny black Cadillac Escalade SUV wearing leather Tennessee Titans jackets).

Then, as I drove by listening to Fox News on XM Radio, a news segment came on about how the tough economy is forcing people to adopt the old saying from the WWII era- “Use It All, Wear It Out, Make It Do, or Go Without.” The reporter went on to say that more and more people are now repairing old appliances like toasters and vacuum cleaners instead of replacing them.

Bizarre coincidence or a message from beyond?