January 15, 2001
DOWN HOME:
After 20 cool years, fridge finally frozen
___Other than the ice-making machine (that actually works); the in-door cold-water dispenser; the see-through, spill-proof, dishwasher-safe drawers; several cubic feet of extra freezer space; and the clean, white exterior, our new refrigerator isn't much different from the previous one.
___The old fridge arrived at our home the day after Thanksgiving, 1980. It was the first major appliance we ever bought and preceded our first child by three years.
MARV KNOX
Editor
___And it served us well. No telling how many gallons of milk, dozens of eggs, bowls of margarine, jars of mayonnaise and bags of bagels passed through its doors.
___I'm trying to remember how many times we've moved it. Seven, I think.
___Joanna claimed it has been on its last leg since we moved back to Texas.
___The icemaker didn't survive that trip. It nearly died two years before, but we replaced a switch, and it cranked back up. But when we moved this last time and it didn't make ice, Jo talked me out of repairing it.
___"What's the use of fixing it again?" she'd ask when I'd raise the subject. "You'll spend time and money on the icemaker. Then the whole thing will break down. And where will we be?"
___So, we made ice in trays for five years, thinking every jolt of the fridge's generator would be its last.
___Well, it never quite died. But Jo pulled the plug. After two decades, she decided she'd had enough, even if the old icebox had given its all.
___Seems like that's almost always the way it is.
___The husband wants to get one more load of clothes out of the washer, one more tray of ice out of the refrigerator, one more steak off the grill. And the wife sums up her feelings with a single, solitary word. "Now."
___For the husband, it's all about money. Why buy another refrigerator when the baloney hasn't spoiled yet? Why buy a washer if everything that goes in still comes out (with the possible exception of socks, which don't really count). And if it's not the money, it's the nostalgic principle of the thing: A guy can take perverse pride in how many years he keeps an appliance, never mind if it really works right.
___For the wife, however, the decision is based upon utility. She wants to use an appliance that works exactly like it's supposed to. And even if it still works OK, she'll switch loyalty to one that works even better. On top of that, her decision ultimately is based on aesthetics: Sooner or later, she just gets tired of looking at the old fridge, whose color was oh so popular 20 years ago.
___Unfortunately, some couples take this approach to marriage. When hubby or wifey gets "old," they toss that one out in favor of a new model.
___So, when I think that way about it, I'm glad our marriage outlasted the fridge. And I pray we will outlast the new one, and another besides.
_
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