Ever since I stopped going to work, I have become aware of what goes on while most of us are out of the neighborhood, making money. Our houses are visited throughout the day by an army of workers. They lavish these boxes with attention; cleaning their interiors, trimming the vegetation that surrounds them, painting and altering the superstructure, adjusting and replacing bits of the circulatory systems that bring in electricity and heat and water and take away the waste products, bringing in new appliances and taking out old, catching animals who dare to invade, and these are just some of the reasons we let people into the house while we are gone. If I didn't know better, I might surmise that human beings exist to tend these structures. Certainly much of the money earned in middle class America goes toward the glory of the boxes we live in.
Surely, if we were efficient creatures, we would have invented a one size fits all habitation that needs no special tools or experience to maintain. Something like the $300 House, designed for the poor. But we actually expect our houses to express our innermost feelings, through an inexplicable assortment of design and equipment attributes. Our inability to convey our desires through woodwork, may be the reason why the craftsmen are constantly arriving to try once again.
In my house, it comes down to the kitchen. The enamelled sink is shedding its enamel and rusting. The vinyl floor was white when it began, but can't be turned white with any amount of scrubbing. These are good reasons to get replacements. But how big should we go? As any householder knows, one thing leads to another and another. If we replace the sink, we should really get new countertops. If we do that, maybe it is time to build the cabinets and counters on the other wall that would make a lot more room, but then that begs the question of whether we should get all new cabinets. And of course we need a new floor and isn't it time to change all the appliances? I just find it very hard to go down that long slippery path. Each choice seems to mean something and demand careful thought. And at the end we will need to invite at least several workers into our home.
I know the home building industry creates a lot of jobs, but if we didn't have these terribly complicated structures, wouldn't we need a lot less money?
