Whining, grounding sounds caught my attention as I entered the LaGuardia restroom. I quickly identified two sources. Beside each sink hung automatic towel dispensers.
Wave your hand below it and a dispenser will spit out a towel for your use. A simple economic, ecological concept and process.
Except. At this moment, two of the dispensers displayed symptoms of some form of mechanical possession. Mindlessly they churned. With no one seeking a towel, they churned. On and on they churned.
One produced an endless stream of towels that created a pile on the sink. The other, empty, simply spun, grinding gears, producing nothing.
As I found a dispenser that worked as intended by its designers, I pondered the mysteries of the moment. The mysteries of spinning one’s wheels and producing nothing. The mysteries of spinning one’s wheels and producing something that no one wants.
And I realized that I have done both. Often. But I am not alone.
See you along the Trail.
29 November 2011
Delta Terminal, LGA
Along the Graybeard Trail 