Sticking Around

I use rubber cement by the gallon. Actually, when we had an office supply store downtown, I’d take what they had on display. Once a year, I’d walk in, pick up two gallons and head for the counter. Maybe I’d take three gallons, if they had it. There would be some eyebrow-raising, but I’d just smile and say, “How much?”

Like, doesn’t everybody buy a couple gallons of the stuff at a time? Now that the store doesn’t carry it anymore, nor do Staples and Office Max, I tried Office Max or Office Warehouse main distribution; it worked once, I think. Next time they said nobody had ordered for two years. “Sounds like me,” I said. “Yes, that’s so,” they replied.

I found another supplier, fellow in Ohio who deals in fluids and equipment you never thought anyone used at this date. “Certainly,” he said with certainty. “There are a lot of poor school districts out there and they can’t afford Xerox photocopy machines or even a mimeograph. We have spirit duplicators for them.

Spirit duplicators; we used to get a little high on them in grammar school 50+ years ago. Still in use, I see. Mimeos with their ugly black ink, still going. And my beloved rubber cement. “We ship in six gallon lots,” Bill said. “That’s fine,” I replied, “I use a lot of it.” I guess if someone had a need for odd stuff, there’s a guy somewhere who sells it.

Failed, weak glue? Post-It notes. Old house decorations? A place in CT that resells them to landscapers. It’s not junk if you can sell it.