‘I’ve reached my breaking point’: Sharyn Ghidella on modern life

Nothing seems to last any more, certainly not our patience or our sanity, and I’ve had enough of it, writes Sharyn Ghidella.

Sharyn Ghidella has reached breaking point because everything keeps breaking. Picture: David Kelly

It may have taken a few years, but finally it’s happened.

After more decades on this planet than I’d care to count, I believe I’m starting to crack.

Yes, my calm state of Zen is no more.

I’d like to officially declare I’ve reached my breaking point.

Yes, I’ve reached my breaking point because, put simply, everything I buy these days … just seems to break, leaving me in a permanent state of frustration. A permanent state of house rage.

I’m sure you know it well.

You’re about to do the simplest of tasks.

You get out your trusty vacuum cleaner, start pushing buttons and, out of the blue, you get nothing in return.

Yep, it sucks. Well, not the vacuum cleaner, that’s clearly broken. Its dust bag is empty.

In fact, the only bag that’s full right now is me, as I start screeching that old-aged lament: Why does nothing seem to last any more?

Why are all these machines and common household items determined to hijack my good mood?

Case in point, I need a new fridge. Apparently, the nice shiny one I have has reached its use-by date. At the tender age of 13 years, the inverter board – that was keeping it inverted – has packed it in. The repairman ordered a new one but, four weeks later, that little inverter board has been playing hard to get … very hard to get.

The fridge manufacturer thinks 13 years is long enough on the planet for one of its teenage offspring, ceasing production on the part that will give it new life.

Did I mention it’s only 13 years old?

After 13 years, Sharyn Ghidella’s fridge is on life support.

I know, I know … 13 years in fridge years is positively prehistoric these days. The poor thing has been on life support and I’ve been forcing it to compress well beyond the life and capability of its compressor.

But the problem is, I don’t want to buy a new refrigerator. I don’t want the hassle, wasting hours of my precious time researching the latest smart fridge. Honestly, I was really happy with the less intelligent one as long as that inverter kept things cold.

And sadly, it’s not just the fridge.

Do a sweep of your house – just be careful the broom head doesn’t come flying off the handle – and before you is an endless array of items that didn’t pass the test of time.

My washing machine conveniently rusted after four years. The motor also ceased operation. Honestly, I’ve spent more time phoning customer service than I have doing laundry.

Sharyn’s washing machine has ceased operation.

This washing machine seems to agitate me more than my dirty clothes.

And it’s the same with furniture. Remember nana’s old dining table that could survive the apocalypse. That thing was scratch resistant. It never wobbled. It was solid and it’s still standing.

The flat pack excuse of a dining table in our house, well, it’s so rickety, you can get seasick just eating off it.

Then there are the shoes that literally fall apart as you walk! I mean, occasionally, we all like to bare our souls … just not the ones meant to provide a barrier between our feet and the pavement. If that’s leather, it’s spent way too long on the tanning bed.

Sharyn’s phone operates like a geriatric tortoise.

And don’t get me started on phones and tablets and those selfdestructing batteries.

So much for high speed. Without a power bank backup, I can’t go anywhere with my phone at the moment. It operates like a geriatric tortoise … which leaves me … pulling out my hare!

Yes, nothing is made to last. And the sad thing about modern day failure is often it’s not by chance. It’s all craftily engineered to keep the economy ticking over and making some people rich.

The interminable frustration and the exorbitant cost to the consumer is inconsequential to any CEO, who just needs to sell 5000 more fridges for their bonus at the end of the year.

The term is built-in failure. Or planned obsolescence. Breakage is so much a part of our lives these days, eventually it seems to break you.

And it’s not just the frustration it causes. Think of what’s ending up in landfill.

Yes, sadly nothing seems to last anymore. Certainly not our patience or our sanity.

Maybe it’s time the world had a rethink on allowing this planned obsolescence that’s become so much a part of modern manufacturing, before we’re the ones blowing a gasket.

I don’t know about you, but I reckon we could all do with a break from everything breaking.