It amazes me how out of touch we are in modern life with how things work. My furnace wouldn't start this morning when I went to turn it on for the first time. The house was 60 degrees, so I thought it an appropriate start to the day. Of course, WHY it doesn't work is a complete mystery to me. I fidgeted with a few dials and switches, none of which I understand the mechanics of, but I toyed with them anyway, hoping for some miraculous healing. It's happened before.
So what would the pioneers have done? They, at least, understood the mechanics of their world. They would have known how to fix their situation. Does it bother anyone else in modern society that we lack even the means to warm ourselves by methods which we as individuals can understand and control and fix? And my furnace is a relatively simple piece of modern equipment! I won't even go into the strange sounds coming from my car which I ignore because I neither comprehend them nor truly want to comprehend them. I just know that when it ultimately stops working, I will pick up my cell phone, which I couldn't begin to understand on anything other than a "which button to push" level, and call a mechanic who will use tools that he doesn't understand to fix it!
This constant feeling of not knowing and being at the mercy of someone else bothers me! It is one reason, among many, that I dream of moving to some remote place and living off the land, off the grid, somewhere where if something breaks, I will at least intellectually know how to fix it even if I lack the brute strength....where I can be master of my world instead of a slave to the yellow pages.
By the way, anybody living near me know a good furnace repairman???
1 comment:
Oh no!!! Funny post though :) We often talk about getting "off the grid" too! Call us if you still need a referral ...
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