Here's a clever and interesting recent quote from philosophersmail.com: "An interest in - improvement is a sign of hope; hope that we'll work out how to fix stuff: wars, inequality, battery life, anger, dropped signals and - most important of all (yet most secretly) - ourselves."
It's interesting because the word "fix" isn't often used with the word "hope." Yes, we hope for peace, equality, long battery life, tranquility and good cellular coverage. But ourselves? And do we really hope to "fix" those other things, to say nothing of fixing ourselves? This whole idea of fixing things might warrant another look.
• Getting fixed is what we call neutering our pet cats and dogs.
• A "Mister Fixit" is what we good-naturedly call our uncle, husband or friend who more or less bumblingly enjoys trying to make household repairs.
• A "fix" is what we call a dose of a drug, usually one we call recreational, I suppose to distinguish it from one we would call helpful.
• A "fixture" is a lamp or an appliance or some bits of hardware we attach to a wall or ceiling and then use, but usually don't think about again until they break down. And need to be fixed.
• "Fixins'" is what we call things that go on a plate alongside something special we love to eat. Nobody every says "stuffing and turkey" or "chips 'n fish" or "rice-fried shrimp."
I'm all in favor of these meanings for the word fix, but when it comes to myself, I'm not so sure. I certainly don't need to be de-gendered, tinkered with, stoned, attached to my walls, or relegated to a side dish. So I think that means I don't need to get fixed.
I hope.
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