Friday, May 19, 2023

The Old Coot is unpluged. A May 24, 2023 Article

 The Old Coot is plug challenged.

By Merlin Lessler

 I have a plug problem. For most of my lifetime, I could plug something into a wall outlet with ease: two slots, two prongs, in they go. Now, because of an overprotective bureaucratic safety edict, I’m stuck with a wide prong and a narrow one and a wide and narrow slot. You would think a person has a fifty-fifty chance of getting the plug lined up the right way. Not the case. Not for me, anyhow. It’s more like one in ten chances of getting it right.

 Oh sure, if I went and grabbed my reading glasses, I could get it right the first time. But I don’t, and thus, I have a plug problem. And, not just with electric lamps and appliances. It’s the same with USB and HDMI plugs. I also seem to get them wrong most of the time. And, my cell phone charger and plug, until just recently, when my new Samsung phone came with a plug that is indifferent to which way you plug it in. If I’d had an Apple phone, I never would have had the problem. But, being a cheapskate and opting for a phone that cost one fifth that of an I-phone, I’ve had to deal with a phone plug problem for more than a decade. It’s why I like my Apple I-pad so much, a gift from my oldest daughter seven years ago. Never a plug problem with that device.

 I recently moved to an apartment in a house a block or so down the street from our well-loved two hundred and eighteen-year-old residence. It’s one of those life adjustments you make to accommodate the aging process. But it wasn’t easy -all those plugs; all those slots. It was a wrong-way, plug festival. My wrist is still sore from twisting it to get the plugs to line up with the slots. The wrist will get better, my plug problem won’t.

 Comments? Send to – mlessler7@gmail.com

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