Taylor Swift made history at the 2024 Grammys, becoming the first person ever to win “Album of the Year” four times. That came when her album Midnights, reIeased to much fanfare in 2023, took the top award. Not everyone was fawning over Taylor, however, with some on social media expressing their displeasure with how, in their view, rudely she acted when she accepted their award.
Essentially, they argued that Ms. Swift should have done more to show her gratitude to Celine Dion, who presented the award to Taylor despite having been diagnosed with an incurable neurologicaI disease called stiff man syn drome. To many viewers, it appeared that Taylor ignored Dion when accepting the award despite Dion’s difficulty in being on stage.
For example, one commenter on Fox News’ post on Facebook about Taylor’s Grammys win wrote, “Good for her but she should absolutely be ashamed of herself! She walked on stage, took the Grammy from Celine & dismissed her like she was no one! Celine Dion is battling a disease & I’m sure struggIed to even show up! I felt so sorry for her & the way she was treated! Somebody, please teach Ms. Taylor some manners!”
Do You Recognize This Old-School Communication Tool?
Times are changing and it seems as if the more we progress, the faster they change. The one thing that hasn’t changed is our need to communicate but the way we communicate has adjusted over the years.
Many of us can probably look back and remember the time when we were tethered to the wall when we wanted to talk to someone on the phone. We wrote letters and put them in the mail and if somebody wasn’t home, we couldn’t talk to them at that moment.
These days, we communicate by sending text messages or messages over social media. We have video calls and if we can get in touch with somebody, it quickly gets on our nerves.
There have also been a number of innovations over the years that were brilliant in their time but these days, they are not used very often. That is especially true in the day when we used to use the Postal Service to deliver letters and packages on a regular basis.
One of the most important things to consider when delivering a letter or package was the weight. It would make a difference in the shipping rate, and that is where this unique invention, the postal scale, comes into play.
Long before we were sending emails and text messages, we were delivering things through the Postal Service. Analog mechanisms that included balances and springs were used to determine how much we would pay in postage. It wasn’t an exact science, but it was close enough.
Postal scales still exist today but they are much more advanced. They are precise instruments that have advanced features and it makes it much less personal when it comes to getting service at the post office.
Aside from the fact that the older postal scales were not 100% accurate, the design and nostalgia are something to consider. These are more than an item that used to weigh the letters we sent, they are collector’s items and some enthusiasts will pay big money for them.
So if you ever see a vintage postal scale, stop to ponder over what it may have done in its lifetime. It’s an item we don’t use as much anymore, but it is an item from time that we should forget.
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