Watching a guy at LAX fix his laptop with a paperclip changed how I travel

I was stuck at gate 24B in Los Angeles last month when my bag zipper broke. This dude next to me pulls out a paperclip, bends it into a hook, and fixed it in under a minute. Now I always keep three paperclips in my wallet and a tiny screwdriver set in my carry-on. Has anyone else got a weird travel fix that saved them in a pinch?

2 comments

2 Comments

claire95814d ago

love this. random creativity is one of the few things that still surprises me about people. it's like we all have this hidden resourcefulness that only kicks in when we're frustrated enough or desperate enough. i see it on my route all the time people inventing weird little solutions to everyday problems because they just can't wait or they don't want to buy something new. it's not just travel hacks, it's a whole mindset of making do with what you've got. we've gotten so used to throwing stuff away and buying a replacement that we forgot how satisfying it is to fix something dumb yourself.

the_miles13d ago

Heard a thing on the radio the other day about how people in the 80s fixed their own VCRs with paperclips and butter knives. Now we just toss it and buy a new one. Kinda makes you wonder what we lost along the way, right?