‘Way back in 1982, the family took a trip to Japan as
part of a son’s band concert trip.
One of my fondest souvenirs was a stainless steel
scissors purchased for something like ¥150 (equivalent at the time to maybe 10¢
American). It cut perfectly, very smoothly, and was extremely lightweight.
Used with care, it lasted until just after the New Year
before I stupidly cut through a staple and gave it a nick. The poor thing wasn’t
the same after that.
Old Scissors on Right, New Scissors on Left |
I could have gone on using it, but that nick always put a
snag in the cutting and made me very, very uncomfortable (not to mention
feeling guilty for my stupidity).
So when I got a 40%-off coupon for any single item priced
at $10 or more at Long’s (CVS) Pharmacy, I looked for a good pair of scissors
and purchased it.
My new Westcott titanium scissors was priced at $10.59, and with
my $4.24 discount, I only paid $6.35 plus 30¢ general excise tax (a euphemism for “sales tax"), 3.2 ¢ of which went to help pay for Honolulu's Boondoggle Rail construction.
The titanium, the packaging said, is three times harder
than stainless steel. Great! But … the machining isn’t as accurate as the
Japanese scissors; the shearing is not as smooth.
Can’t win ‘em all, but at least the Japanese cutter
lasted me 30+ years.
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