The Peeve Page
While computers get better and faster, medicine and science have made tremendous advances (such as sheep-cloning), and the stock market, at the moment, is booming (not exploding, thank god), there are aspects of life that have just gotten worse. For example,
- Pocket Kleenex packages, which used to be just fine, were redesigned to be as inconvenient as possible;
it is very hard to pull out just one tissue now without tearing it or yanking out three or four.
- Cigarette lighters now have those stupid safety locks that make them very hard to use.
- What was wrong with the subway token? These new swipe cards often don't work, especially when a
train is coming, and you need two hands to get the damn thing out of your wallet.
- New office buildings don't have windows you can open; consequently, you are either broiling or
freezing.
- Not only can't you get a bank teller these days, the banks have the nerve to charge you for using the
ATM that was designed to save them money in the first place by eliminating tellers. (Also, their bounced-check charges are outrageously high -- $30 at my bank.)
- Plastic toothpaste tubes are impossible to roll up from the bottom without unravelling; they seem
designed to prevent you from using the dregs when the tube is almost empty. Bring back the lead ones!
- Sucrets no longer come in those nifty tin boxes that were so handy for other uses (especially back in the days one smoked pot).
- Now that everything is on CD, what am I going to do with my large collection of LP records? You can
still get hi-fi turntables, but for how much longer? (You're in even worse shape if you have 78's and/or
reel tapes, like my mother.)
- These days, when a TV set breaks, people tend to throw it away and buy a new one. Why don't they build them with modular, replaceable parts (not that I'm advocating going back to vacuum tubes)? The tuner is usually first to go, since it tends to be the only moving part.
- Modern cars all pretty much look alike, they don't have bumpers, and they stick up at the back end.
And what are those stupid-looking tail wings on the backs of some cars? Who decided this is what the public wanted?
- And speaking of cars, while the new Volkswagen Beetle looks pretty good, why is it so expensive? It is supposed to be the 'common folks' car (hence the name) and comparable in today's inflated dollars to
the basic $1900 it cost in the early 1960's.
Guest Peeves