Life Has Become Too Complicated

How many people does it take to change a light bulb? These days, it takes many to figure out what to buy, but only one to actually screw it in. When a bulb went out in our new condo, we had no idea what a challenge it would be to replace it. Light bulb shopping has become a metaphor for how every aspect of life has just become far too complicated.

Because the blown bulb had strange markings on it and no number that indicated what wattage or type it was, we consulted with building maintenance. We wanted something a little brighter but had no idea what that would be. He gave us a mini-course on LED bulbs. The wattage didn’t matter as much as the number of lumens (whatever that it) and the K number, which would tell us how warm or cold the light is.

Not really understanding all of this, we put on our masks and headed to our local Ace hardware store, which we knew would not be crowded and where we could easily find someone to help us figure this out. After worrying that his limited selection of bulbs might not work, the help-desk man did manage to find us what we wanted except that it was smooth on the bottom rather than having an intricate pattern of lines and swirls like the burned out bulb. We happily took enough bulbs to replace all of the ones in the kitchen, which were short on lumens. Voila! A much brighter kitchen lit by bulbs that theoretically would outlast…