I'm done messing around

I have had it. The lightbulb in the lamppost on our front lawn has burned out again. I just changed it less than a month ago.

It’s one of those floodlights and I just used a regular incandescent lightbulb. Even with the long December nights, it shouldn’t have burned out that fast. I remember when you could at least count on a few months from a lightbulb. You bought one knowing you would have a little time to spare. Now nothing lasts. Is this the state of American manufacturing?

Our neighborhood is dark, not having streetlights, so I don’t like not having the light lit. So I had to trudge out, in the middle of Christmas shopping, to buy yet another light. Usually I just buy one light, and it’s the cheapest one I can find. I figure I’ll just pick the cheap option for now, just so I can get by. This is human nature: We put Band Aids on everything and expect to solve the problem permanently at some later date, but we never do.

Well, this time I was smart. I picked up a pack of two lightbulbs. And they’re LEDs, which the package says should last two years. It cost something like $15.99, but I threw caution to the wind and swiped my card. Now I can rest easy. The second bulb will be waiting for me when the first bulb burns out, hopefully in late 2019, and I can just replace it immediately, having already invested two years prior.

I’m done messing around with lightbulbs.