This is the worst post I've ever made

In 5 years of making posts on the Steem, Hive, and Blurt blockchains almost every day, this is undoubtably my worst one ever. It consists of just a single photograph and a short writeup. And yet, this post is higher quality than 90% of the other posts being made on these blockchains, because it contains original content, thought was put into its creation, and it makes a few points.

What photo should I include? How about I take a snapshot of a flower? A dog? Some clouds? Or even worse, one taken from somewhere else on the internet? That would be on par with most of the posts seen here. Not your posts, dear reader. I'm talking about the majority of the posts seen in the "New" tab. If you take a look at what most people are adding to the blockchain, it's utter garbage. Instead, I just took a photograph of an item you've probably never seen here before. I present you with...

My potato peeler.

I got it in January 2016, when my mother's mother died, a few weeks before her 92nd birthday.

My grandma was an incredible lady. I had the pleasure of caring for her in her home - the house and garden she and my grandfather had lived almost their whole lives - for about her last 5 years. She asked me to help her finish her life there, instead of dying in a facility for elderly people. She had always been there for me all of my 40 years, and I was honoured to grant her request. It was a lot of hard work and sacrifice, but I wouldn't trade that time for anything. She taught me so much about our family, passed on a massive amount of knowledge and skills, and showed me what true unconditional love is.

One morning, she tripped and fell in her kitchen, breaking her hip. She died the next evening in a hospital bed. I was the last person to speak with her and see her alive. I'll never forget her, and now I'm passing on her knowledge and love to my own children. She had lived a frugal life, clipping coupons and keeping track of every expenditure in a budget book. Her home in the suburbs of Vancouver had appreciated over several decades, and was quickly sold, providing her children with millions of dollars. I got my grandpa's old garden tools, and a few of my grandma's old kitchen tools, including this peeler.

They don't make them like they used to

I challenge you to find a better potato peeler! It was used almost every day, for a good 50 years, and I've used it regularly since I got it. It's not rusty, it's not broken, and it's not dull. It has never been sharpened, but it is still as good as the day it was made. I can peel a large potato in about 10 seconds with this thing! Dinner's in the pot just minutes after coming out of the fridge.

What do you use to peel potatoes? For me, nothing can beat this old hand-me-down. They really don't make things the way they did back then. Stuff was made to last forever. Now, manufacturers use a technique called "planned obsolescence", which essentially means they build things to stop working soon after purchase, and you have to buy another one. Very few things are still made to last. Everything is disposable. It's not because we don't know how to make quality things, or because we don't have the materials... it's an economic strategy. Sadly, it works. It's hard to find any company building anything - potato peelers, cars, houses, toys, etc - that is meant to be used your whole life and then passed on to your descendants.

To find something like that, you have to go back a generation or two. Garage sales, estate sales, thrift stores. Usually for a fraction of the cost of a new one, which will be broken and gone almost right away, you can often find true quality. Stuff is made so poorly nowadays, sometimes you don't even get a single use out of it! For example, a dollar store potato peeler might look alright, but actually not even peel a potato, or snap in half as soon as you try it. All they care about is convincing you to buy it, because once you take it home, you probably can't (or won't) take it back for a refund. It doesn't matter if it doesn't work or doesn't last. All that matters is they edge out a tiny profit on the sale.

I'm extremely happy to have this little tool. It's useful, it's going to last my whole life, and it reminds me of grandma. Besides, even if I hadn't got this (or the shovels and rakes), what my grandparents taught me is far more valuable than any physical item, even money. I'm sincerely grateful to them both, and not bitter at all about how things turned out.

The same concept applies to people. They don't make them like they used to! The quality of the average person seems to drop, year after year. And people are now disposable, just like consumer items. Where humans once had value, and were seen as an asset, we are now considered a liability, something to be used up and thrown away. I was incredibly blessed to provide my grandma with a final few years that were as comfortable and happy as possible, so that she felt wanted and appreciated... because she absolutely was.

My shitpost is complete

That post took me less than an hour, including the photograph, writing, and editing. It's probably the worst I've ever made, out of approximately 1500 posts. I think I managed to make a couple points, impart some information, and possibly even entertain.

Thank you for your time.

DRutter

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_{Posted from https://blurtlatam.intinte.org}