Gobel's TV Reapir and the Disposable Society
Knowing Charleston fully is knowing Charleston Obscura. Not many drivers notice Gobel's TV Repair at 1011 St. Andrews Boulevard as they cling to life by a tenuous grip upon their steering wheels. Today's drivers appear to be extracts of the bovine, canine and feline lineage in body and mind though all are related via the subphylum of the uninsured motorist. They keep us on our toes and deny us the leisurely drives which once allowed a greater appreciation of shops and homes along that boulevard. We know that Gobel's goes largely unnoticed. We knew of it years ago and returned for this visit.
One of Charleston's few remaining clerics possessed of humility, brevity and insight recently asked how a place such as Gobel's could survive in an era when people routinely toss their sets to the sidewalk on their way out to buy another new one. Bypassing Gobel's was his metaphor for our wasteful and disposable society. It may well be cost effective to have Gobel repair that TV, but it's more the unwillingness to get an estimate, to take the time to find out if a repair is worthwhile. It's easier to toss the TV and to give it a fair hearing.
That metaphor went further and into the territory of disposable people. It suggests that we are too lazy, too busy or too indifferent to bother to repair and maintain our links to other people, to family and friends. We tend also to get what we can from people, to exploit them, then abandon the mine once the assay turns poor.
Someone's always screaming about filling the landfills with our discarded goods which bring both bulk and contamination such as from circuit boards in TVs and computers. It is high sanctimony and very stylish to wax indignant over our growing landfills. Is there someone from the Sierra Club or a rock star or some political hack who will help us in the matter of a landfill for discarded people?
posted by Windviel at 5:20 AM
2 Comments:
You ask:
"Is there someone from the Sierra Club or a rock star or some political hack who will help us in the matter of a landfill for discarded people?"
Yes, they are called liberals and usually disparaged for their committment to discarded people.
Thanks for your comments, Janet Lee, but we fear that you have taken bait which wasn't there and missed our point. We speak of discarded friends, those we know socially or with whom we have emotional or family ties. When these folks are no longer useful to the social climber, no longer willing to pick up the tab for good times or no longer physically attractive, they often get the boot.
We've left skid marks on the plans of exploitive developers, celebrated independent and alternative art forms and cut donuts (figuratively) in the lawns of gated communities. The "disposable" people of whom we speak are neither poor nor otherwise disadvantaged.
We cite the Sierra Club as a respected one issue interest group. In the posting we support their opposition to needless waste of material goods. It may well not be their place to endorse our concerns for people. The other two groups couldn't care less about the human condition or anything else which does not advance their popularity. They work both the hard left and hard right as it suits their purposes. They are the true waste products of our culture.
We presume that your interests are in health care for those who cannot afford it, for a living wage for those who choose to work and legitimate relief for those who cannot. If this the case, we are on the same page, but we welcome your visits in any event.
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