If it ain’t broken...

WE LIVE in a throwaway society, with no thought of repairing things when they are broken.

last week, our TV’s ‘on/off’ switch broke and refused to stay on. My first thought was to call an electrician and have a new switch fitted.

However, it appears the amount of work involved to do this simple repair would cost a ridiculous amount, so we had to buy a new TV.

A friend had a problem with his Vauxhall Astra and was informed it was due to a small spring that had broken in the gearbox. It was virtually impossible to fix so a new gearbox was the only choice, but that would cost almost twice the value of the car.

But sometimes the oldfashioned approach of fixing things can work. When my beloved Swiss automatic wristwatch broke, I took it to several repair shops, only to be told it was too old and parts were impossible to find. So my wife bought me a new watch.

Shortly after, I heard of an old-fashioned repairer who told me the watch was in excellent condition and promptly fixed the problem.

And when an acquaintance’s cat chewed through the mains wire of his new TV, the insurance firm said he was covered to buy a replacement, which he did. But he also brought his ‘useless’ TV to an electrician, who replaced the fuse. It then worked perfectly.

COLIN BOWER, Nottingham.