by Julie Watson

We come from a 'fix it' and make it last society.  As Maritimers we are used to being able to drop in to some shop or garage and being able to get the bits and pieces to repair something to make it last a few more years.

Take the screen door on my Mom's patio.  The door is aging, just like my Mom.  It doesn't glide shut like it used to and the screening needs to be replaced.  Spring has arrived so we are doing one our fix it visits to Mom.  As usual, she has presented us with a little list of things that need tending to.  The garden gate lost a slat, the pump in her pond needs fixing, the ice ram thingee on the roof has come loose, and so on.  Today's project is the screen door.

No big deal says the handyman spouse who I lure to the Niagara region each May with the tempting promise of golf courses, open long before ours at home.  He gets a week of golf.  I get a week of 'girl time' with Mom, then we spend a couple of weeks doing the things she needs done around the house.

"Feels like its just the rollers, and I can take it in and get them and the screen replaced."

Take it? Take it where.  Our quest begins with the local window and door shop.  'Oh no,' they say.  ?Those doors can't be repaired.  You have to order a new one in from the manufacturer.  Just bring us the number and we'll order it in for you.?

Hmmm, sounds like last fall when we wanted a plumber to 'snake' Mom's toilet.  It wouldn't flush properly.  We were told by several trained experts - plumbers - that we would have to replace the whole system at a cost of several hundred dollars.  'You can't fix those things,? they told us.  ?You have to replace the whole unit.?

The spouse took the toilet off and discovered a pair of glasses caught in an inappropriate place for storing such things.  Each time it was flushed toilet paper and 'stuff' would jam up around the glasses and.....well...I'll let you imagine the rest.

An hours work and the problem was fixed for another decade or two.  He even put a new beeswax ring on - total cost less than $10.

Let's face it. Most folks in the more populated regions have bought into the throw away society.  If it's a little worn, needs a washer or even paint, its in the trash.  So why the difference in cultures?

Some say its because it is because we - rural Maritimers - are a 'have-not' society and can't afford to just go buy new every time something breaks or needs adjusting.  True we have not when it comes to big fancy houses and new cars every year.  Our incomes may be lower, our possessions less.  But I don't think this is the root of the difference.  The same thing is probably felt by farmers or truly rural Ontarians when they look at townies or city folk.

Part of the difference is that many folks here are not so tied up in rushing hither and thither to earn more money that we can't take time to fix things.  We don't earn as much money, but we have more time.  Instead of spending two hours a day commuting, we might spend that time fixing, or doing things the longer, more labourious, but infinitely cheaper way.

We don't earn or owe as much money and we make do with much less.  There is an element of pride in fixing rather than dumping.  It makes us, as individuals feel a sense of worth and accomplishment.  Although we don't recognize it, we are more at one with the environment and resent seeing perfectly good things being put into landfill. 

Although our family ties are in Southern Ontario, we feel at one in this make-do society that is our Maritime home.  It seems to be closer linked to our past when the spouse's ancestors settled the lands and mine came to this country as immigrants.  It makes me think of incidents like the power failures and storms which have thrown people into panics in recent years.  How sad that folks lack the basic skills and initiative to cope with this kind of inconvenience.  How sad that they don't have a clue how to fix a broken toilet or a screen door and instead find themselves charged outrageous hourly rates for three times the time it would take to fix it yourself.

How sad that a lack of basic fix-it skills causes people challenged by, for example, the elements, to sit back wailing and wringing their hands while waiting for the government to rescue them.  How sad that they don't have the sense of pride and confidence that comes with doin'-for-your-ownself. And how sad that they work longer, harder and under more and more stress to earn money to pay out to have things repaired that they could easily do themselves.