By: Clare Parkhurst of InSide The Back Mountain
My first meeting with Dick Streever is very memorable for me. Our meeting came about after he phoned me with questions about InSide the Back Mountain magazine. He had received InSide in his Shavertown mailbox and was curious about how our magazine could benefit his business. Our first meeting was early last fall at his business located in Swoyersville.
More than writing about the people, the businesses and the “going’s on” in The Back Mountain, what I find most rewarding is really getting to know about how people arrived here, why they came here and what they find so appealing about our community. That conversational process is the best thing about what I do. I love getting to know new people and their stories. Dick Streever’s story is a special one.
Dick is a quiet man but certainly not one reluctant to share his story. Dick and I are contemporaries…. baby boomers. We share a lot of the same opinions like the old comments from grandparents and parents who have always claimed, “This new generation is just not the same”. Our conversation interestingly started by talking about what we both call “the disposable generation”. John C. O’Keefe from Creative Commons describes this so well in his blog: “Recently we had an issue with our coffee maker. It refused to make coffee – and, generally speaking, for a coffee maker that’s not a good thing. So, I did what all dutiful husbands would do to keep their wives from destroying the house: I contacted the company in hopes of sending it back to them for repairs. The company was quick to offer us a new one, sent to us at no charge. I thought, ‘Ok, we will send back the old one, they will fix it and sell it online as refurbished.’ When I asked what to do with the broken one, I was told, ‘Toss it out – it’s broken.’ Unfortunately, this is nothing new, we live in a disposable culture, a culture where tossing something away when it breaks is easier, and often cheaper, than it is to get it fixed. TV breaks, get a new one; fan breaks, get a new one; coffee maker breaks, get a new one. Disposable lighters, computers, cell phones, radios – you name it, it’s made to be tossed away, and not repaired – we have moved from a ‘repair culture’, to a ‘consumer culture’. If it is broken, toss it out.” more of the story!
My first meeting with Dick Streever is very memorable for me. Our meeting came about after he phoned me with questions about InSide the Back Mountain magazine. He had received InSide in his Shavertown mailbox and was curious about how our magazine could benefit his business. Our first meeting was early last fall at his business located in Swoyersville.
More than writing about the people, the businesses and the “going’s on” in The Back Mountain, what I find most rewarding is really getting to know about how people arrived here, why they came here and what they find so appealing about our community. That conversational process is the best thing about what I do. I love getting to know new people and their stories. Dick Streever’s story is a special one.
Dick is a quiet man but certainly not one reluctant to share his story. Dick and I are contemporaries…. baby boomers. We share a lot of the same opinions like the old comments from grandparents and parents who have always claimed, “This new generation is just not the same”. Our conversation interestingly started by talking about what we both call “the disposable generation”. John C. O’Keefe from Creative Commons describes this so well in his blog: “Recently we had an issue with our coffee maker. It refused to make coffee – and, generally speaking, for a coffee maker that’s not a good thing. So, I did what all dutiful husbands would do to keep their wives from destroying the house: I contacted the company in hopes of sending it back to them for repairs. The company was quick to offer us a new one, sent to us at no charge. I thought, ‘Ok, we will send back the old one, they will fix it and sell it online as refurbished.’ When I asked what to do with the broken one, I was told, ‘Toss it out – it’s broken.’ Unfortunately, this is nothing new, we live in a disposable culture, a culture where tossing something away when it breaks is easier, and often cheaper, than it is to get it fixed. TV breaks, get a new one; fan breaks, get a new one; coffee maker breaks, get a new one. Disposable lighters, computers, cell phones, radios – you name it, it’s made to be tossed away, and not repaired – we have moved from a ‘repair culture’, to a ‘consumer culture’. If it is broken, toss it out.” more of the story!
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