Open And Shut

Doors used to be made of good, solid stuff called wood. Now, while some are metal, most are a plasticy material that looks like wood. They are made to tell anyone passing by what good taste you have in putting up a door that matches the ambience of what lies inside. It's called "sidewalk appeal" or something similar. Anything else put around the door, has to follow suit. Doors "speak" apparently. "Hey look everyone. Come in and find traditional or contemporary or antique things inside just like this." It's a kind of invitation or shop window ploy to draw customers/guests into the depths of the place. The door knobs were once lovely things, usually rounded, and had character. Some were gold or silver or burnished. Others were made of glass, crystal and had designs. Now, doorknobs are not knobs any more and come with apologies to Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry. They are metal things that look like hospital equipment or coat hooks from Venus. You have them like that, they tell me,  because someone may come along who can't turn a door knob but in an emergency like a fire, can bash it downwards to get out easily. And it's true. We have a big dog, where I live, who lets himself out his space age door so that he can run up and down the hallways barking joyfully at the accomplishment. His owner found out one day when her dog greeted her in the lobby, as well as the flock of pursuing neighbours following close behind. And it isn't just outer doors that have changed. Cupboard doors are trying to get into the act, too. I know someone who just bought a new suite similar to mine in which the cupboard doors open like flour bins. They do not swing left or right. They lift. Or fall. Luckily, in his case, his are made to stay open long enough to remove things or put them in. Mine don't. The cupboard doors stay open only if you hold them up. It's clear to me that the individual who designed these freaky things, must have been a soccer player with a good strong forehead or a guy with three hands. When I put my steel coffee maker away the other day, I had to hold the door thing open with my head so that I could use the other two hands to lift it inside. It does havoc to hairdos, not to mention foreheads. Who invents these modern space-saving wonders and obviously doesn't use them? Ah progress!