No Way Like the Old Way

Walk the streets of Hanoi and you will find people making do with what they have.

In the United States - and elsewhere - we live in a disposable society. Try to get a home appliance repaired and you will see what I mean. Every thing about our system is set up to encourage you to discard whatever is broken and replace it with something new. It’s just easier.

On the streets of this city you will find people working with hand tools to fix whatever is broken. If things are not made to last - they are made to last through constant repair and improvisation. This man was filing a piece of metal that looked like it came from a door mechanism. He had a full tool box of files and he changed them often as the job proceeded just outside his front door a few feet from the street traffic.