The suffering

quality = suffering

When late-night doom scrolling turns into spelunking through product reviews for a new piece I’m hunting, patterns reveal themselves. At 1:30am I’m seeing one clearly. —“Quality” is a product’s ability take a beating.

Durability seems to be to be the unspoken consensus of what makes a product of higher tier, at least in the eye of the amateur critic. A t-shirt that “feels like it will hold up”, a duffle that has “…zippers won’t come undone when TSA tosses it around”, a coat that’s “been stuffed into my bag 100s of times… even used as a pillow… and has managed to …keep its shape” are illustrations of the theme.

Fabric, weave, weight, origin matter but to only a discerning few. What people unanimously respect, is when the product they bought gets taken to the brink and comes back shining.

There is a parallel.

“Following the war, he started a family, rebuilt and lead a good life.” “After the accident, she underwent surgeries, months of rehabilitation and today is running her third marathon.”

We root for those who overcome challenges, mastered adversity and conquered the odds. It is the human experience. To suffer is to live, and prevail is to live well.

Our possessions should be equally equipped for this story arc. A good product, ferries you through the days when nothing worked. A great one does that and makes you look good the day you arrive victorious.