           It’s important to get to the thoughtful and speculative part where I ask what it means when the objects in our lives demoralize us in a blizzard of malfunctions. But emotionally, I feel it’s equally important to share the details of the unceasing material disappointments I’ve faced, like the seventy-year-old citrus juicer that still works like new and the endless string of coffee grinders that failed barely a year after purchase.
           It’s not just the appliances that seem to betray us. It’s the little things too, like the unraveled mittens, the suitcase that won’t stand, and the laptop that turned into a brick within months of its warranty expiring. It’s disheartening to see so many things that were once cherished possessions end up in unmarked graves in the local Montana landfill.
           Should we not ask what it means when the objects that should make our lives easier instead leave us in a constant state of disappointment? Even the staples can’t pierce paper, the matches won’t light, and the most reliable car gives up while going eighty down the freeway.
