I just read this line in the August 8, 2011, New Yorker, "He prefers skinny ties, which, he maintains, are harder to find than a decent reading lamp." (Patricia Marx, "Real Men Don't Shop").
Yes, skinny ties are apparently disappearing, along with thin belts. I'm wearing one now on my flammable shorts (see July 21 blog post), but it was very hard to find. Most irritating is the disappearance of B and 2B pencils in packs of 10. You can get B (#1) or 2-10B pencils in the art section of your office supply store, but they don't have erasers and you are meant to use them for drawing only. Decent pencils have been disappearing for a while now. I met a frustrated man in Staples the other day. We were both hunting for pencils and he went on and on about lead falling out of pencils when he sharpens them, lousy erasers, and the effect bad pencils are having on his golf game.
I mentioned in yesterday's blog that conversation is disappearing and apparently picnics. You doubt me? Then ask yourself, how many picnics have you had this year, compared to 1986, say?
I know the disappearance of skinny ties is trivial compared to non-renewable resources, bees and other species, and clean air, but maybe all these disappearing things are part of a pattern or a trend? Oh, I've noticed trends are also disappearing.
Hope sent the following comment, "Not possible to even imagine the last time I was at a picnic, not one on a blanket, anyway."
ReplyDeletePublic phones. Phone booths. Public clocks. Courtesy --- and to quote Jerimiah: the ability to blush.
ReplyDeleteAnd birth control options are disappearing. I recall now trying to get a diaphragm a couple of years ago for an "off-label" usage. My doctor thought I could still get a diaphragm, but no doctor he knew still had the device for measuring the diameter of the cervix so that the diaphragm could fit properly. A friend of mine says she has to go to the US to find the spermicidal cream to put on the diaphragm. She can't get it in Canada anymore.
ReplyDelete