Lessons from a toothbrush or Long but worth a read

Day 32: it's official – I don't want to spend any more time writing about the response to the riots. True to form, suddenly it's a race issue "blacks" are the rioters and 85% of people think that David Starkey was right when he said the problem is that white people have become "black". As if being black is synonymous with criminality!

So I've decided to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and assume that the media is using statistics and bias opinions to hoodwink all of us into believing a lie. I reckon most people think David Starkey is a jumped up idiot (politest thing I could write) but that would not be news now would it.

So today I'm going to write about my toothbrush. It's noncontroversial and somewhat less frustrating for me than watching British society degenerate into a polarised nation where there is an underclass denied access to opportunities, criminalised at every turn. Why is it okay for magistrates to be told that they must hand out mandatory jail sentences the rioters? What about the people who were just foolish. The people who just happened to get caught up in the confusion, who passed by a shop that had already been broken into and foolishly picked up a packet of crisps or a drink. Yes we know they were stupid, yes we know they shouldn't have done it; but should they be treated in the same way as the arsonists, as the people who just went out to collect their "free stuff" in vans and trucks and cleaned out shops? It would be different if prison rehabilitated anyone but it doesn't it just makes better, more efficient ,more ambitious criminals out of the majority and breaks and destroys the lives of the others. Gosh I'm ranting about the riots again. Anyway about my toothbrush...

I have an electric sonic action toothbrush which cost £96. If you are wondering what kind of toothbrush is worth £96, I should say that when I bought it was half price, so if you were gasping, you can now faint! To tell the truth, I didn't hand over £96 in exchange for a toothbrush. That would have been too big a stretch for me. I think a toothbrush would need to grow my teeth as well as brushed them for £96, let alone £192. What happened was I had a different make and model of sonic toothbrush, which stop working within the 12 months warranty period. So I took it back to the shop and because they had stops stocking it and I didn't have the receipt, I had to have a credit note. The only toothbrush that met my criteria was the one that cost £96 and so I paid the difference (about £50 – yes my original toothbrush was on the pricey side too).

However, it was actually worth the money. It is a fabulous toothbrush and has all these plaque and stain removing features and you only have to charge it every seven days, and that's using it for three minutes, twice a day.

Unfortunately, from the moment I took it out of the box, it seemed to have a life of its own and wanted to jump out of my hands to freedom at every opportunity. I would continually drop it, normally from a great height. If I didn't drop it, I would put it on a high shelf and accidentally turned it on and it would vibrate itself onto the edge and then fall onto the floor. Every time it would hit the floor with a thud, I'd curse my stupidity and pray for it not to be broken and fortunately it wasn't. Over and over again I dropped it and miraculously it remained in one piece; until the dreaded day when the bottom just shot off!

£96 down the drain! I was devastated. However, determined not to let my relationship with my beautiful toothbrush end this way, I decided to fix it. I'm really good at fixing things. I've fixed my iPod Touch which involve taking it apart, replacing the hard drive and the battery; my kids' Nintendo DS Game Boys, which I cannibalise; creating a new custom-designed pink and black one out of the broken pieces. I fixed my brother's television, which was written off by the shop as un repairable and so gave him another one, (so I got a new TV for free) and I regularly fix my computers. I'm not limited to technology; in fact I can fix anything and readily do. So my broken toothbrush was no challenge at all.

At first I managed to keep it together with duct tape, however, this kept getting wet and eventually it came off. I tried various sorts of glues, but because there was a very strong spring inside that kept forcing the ends part, these didn't really work either. I finally got the results I needed with the epoxy quick repair putty. It's strong, but brittle, yet water resilient. This lasted about three months. Yes, you've guessed it; I dropped it again and the brittle seal broke off. Not deterred, it worked before, so why not again, I got out my epoxy putty and commenced repair.

However, this time neither the toothbrush nor the bonding wanted to play ball. After half an hour of the strong spring pushing apart my repair and a pile of dried out epoxy putty (it sets in 5 minutes – great for fast repairs, rubbish for repeat working); the spring shot out like a lead pellet from an old-fashioned gun barrel into the place where things go when you can't find them. It was nowhere to be seen. Bum bum bum (pseudo swearing).

I was finally beaten. I was going to have to chuck it away and purchase another one. Now that I was in love with all the special features and programs, no other toothbrush would do. At best I would have to part with a pony (or is it a monkey, i.e. £100 in south London speak). Worse still, I might have to cough up the full price. Ouch. In frustration I pressed the two ends together and lo and behold it was fixed. Shut, sealed without any further gluing. Okay, I thought, I bet it doesn't work; surely the spring was keeping the battery in place. Not so. It worked perfectly, all special features and programs present and correct!
So basically, it didn't need the spring anyway.

In all the time I was pushing against the spring, willing the ends to stay together, it never once occurred to me that I might not need it at all. I wanted it to be perfect, exactly like it was and yet, it worked just as well to a different design.

Life is often like this. You sometimes encounter strong resistance trying to have things the way we believe they should be, when what is required is to remove what we are resisting, what is pushing against us.

Next time you are struggling to do something, have a look for your “spring” and if you can find it take it out. You may be presently surprised how easy things become.

PS I've now found the spring. It's on my shelf as a reminder – or if I should ever need to put it back!