when things that everyone knows can be done can't be done

[gurdonark]

"How they chatter, how they bore us,
like some avant-garde-ish chorus,
just give it back, no questions asked"
Ron Mael, from "Complaints"

I hate it when I feel entitlements to have things as to which no scripture or government document actually refers. But when I order a service that I have dependably ordered for years in the past, and the service provider advises me that a "key ingredient" of the service was never available, notwithstanding the fact that said "key ingredient" has always been part of my service, I do wonder if I have awakened in a parellel universe (sadly, one in which that cute girl in 7th grade still stood me up when she reneged on the St. Patrick's Day banquet). You know, the universe in which everything you thought was true is no longer true. Kinda like the bizarro universe from the Superman comics, only without the neat cubist artwork and wonderful inverted conceptualization.
No, this is my circle of hell, only someone has removed one of the bunsen burners--and it was a bunsen burner that radiated a heat I kind of liked.

The worst thing about defeated purchasing expectations is
the person I become in my chagrin. The sort of person who says "I've always gotten this *before*". In short, the sort of person who feels as thought he's awakened in a parellel universe, but one which (a) doesn't have the thing he felt entitled to purchase but (b) in which his senior prom date still only wanted to dance to the fast songs. I don't want to be that "frustrated consumer" guy. I've *done* that role.
I need to expand into the comic and leading man roles.
But what do you do when what you've always gotten you can no longer get? Well, you get along, that's what you do.

Comments

[sushimonkey.livejournal.com]

I think lots of people are afraid of change, especially when it comes to the smaller things in life. It's the whole taking little things for granted...you don't really notice them until they're gone!

[marstokyo.livejournal.com]

Have you looked on Ebay? I once even got a *Mr. Machine* on Ebay.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

If only it were a a good, but it's a business service that has always provided one set of bells and whistles, but now says they never provided that set....if it were a good, though, I'd find it on ebay!

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

I think you're right. I think, too, we're all entering a time when things we thought were "safe" and "touchstones" in economic matters are not "safe"....not necessarily in a bad way, but in a less "dependable" way. All this economic growth and all this societal re-ordering in such a short time...and then the down times come, and things change.

Re:

[marstokyo.livejournal.com]

Can you divulge the nature of this *service*? you're making me curious.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

don't mean to be so ambiguous. It's insurance related.

[nacowafer.livejournal.com]

What's *Mr. Machine*?!? I'm intrigued. (And currently not working...)

mr. machine

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

He was just ending when I was kindergarten age or so.
He was the coolest toy robot of all time. I found a URL at www.spookshows.com/toys/machine/machine.htm
You could see his innards and they were *machines*.
He could walk and everything. He was cooler than
some bosses I have had. I don't think I got one for xmas, though.

I'll bet marstokyo is just that little bit more wise than I am such that she may have had one as a child.

Re:

[marstokyo.livejournal.com]

Yaaayyy-- she's really FUFFING!!! A Mr. Machine is a plastic toy from the IDEAL Toy Co.--previously called Mr. Mecchano when it was metal. It's a clear plastic cartoony guy with a top hat and all the gears inside visible. You wind him up and he rattles along and whistles in a weird way. My husband always complained that his parents would never buy him a Mr. Machine when he was a kid (too indulgent)-- so this past year, I bought him one through ebay-- he was delighted. To see one go here:
http://www.kiddstoys.co.uk/mrmach.htm

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Now THAT's a caring spouse gift!

They used to run SO MANY ADS for that little guy at xmas. He looked so cool!

Re:

[marstokyo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I remember him-- Jon also longed for *Rockem Sockem Robots* when he was a kid but of course THAT was out of the question!

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

They revived the Rock sock me robots last xmas.
My brother had them when we were kids. They lived up to their hype, altho one boxer ALWAYS beat the other given equal play. The "new ones" were cheaper plastic, but cost much more.