Always Fix the First Thing That Breaks: A Cautionary Tale

Always fix the first thing that breaks, because then if something else breaks, you’ll hesitate to get it fixed out of embarrassment that the fixer will see you’ve had something else broken the whole time. Even more complicated is when the first thing breaks and you do call to get it fixed, except the landlord can’t actually fix it properly and says he’ll be back to fully fix it another time, but then he never comes back, and you get sort of used to it being broken. And then when the second thing breaks, you don’t call him, because you figure he’ll show up and say, “oh, I forgot to fix that, why didn’t you remind me?” And you’ll say, “I don’t know,” and then you’re the kind of person who’s okay living with broken things. And then months pass and you’re living with a semi-functional toilet, a messed-up hot water system, and doorless cabinets, but you won’t call an outside handyman because it seems ridiculous that you’d have to pay for this. And then years pass and you’re peeing into a hole in the floor and eating magazines. Always fix the first thing that breaks. Always fix the first thing that breaks!!!