Life Happens. The inevitable, and currently unidirectional, arrow of time ticks past moment by moment while entropy and disorder increase. An overlooked casualty of this process is the basic maintenance of all the physical things we use and interact with daily. These things, door handles, knobs, buttons, switches, hinges, surfaces, fixtures, and many more, are often overlooked and sadly neglected. A door knob screw gets loose. A hinge starts to squeak. A switchplate gets dirty.
So what? Well, we get used to these deficiencies and the cumulative effect ends up manifesting a physical and psychological frustration or aversion that is usually subconscious.
But, there is hope! Most of these things are very easy to fix. This effort, TLC Day, is to establish a national day for everyone to fix as many of these as they can. TLC normally stands for Tender Loving Care, but in this case, we are calling it Tighten, Lube, & Clean! The amount of effort, resources, and skill needed is much less than you might think.
Why me? Well, who else? If you see it, fix it! This site will offer guides and links to help you quickly and easily take care of most of these little maintenance tasks. Now, there will be bigger needs beyond the scope of this program, but this is about taking the time to knock out as many “quick wins” as possible.
If everyone spent just 30 minutes doing a quick check for loose screws (door handles, knobs, switchplates, light fixtures, table legs, etc), squeaky things (door and cupboard hinges, drawer slides, handles, knobs, etc), dirty touch surfaces (faucets, knobs, switchplates, doorknobs, etc), we could make an immediate and tangible improvement in the world. Remember, many of these things aren’t really noticed specifically, but can reflect on the overall perception of a location. For example, a store that has a loose door handle, dirty light switches, and a squeaky bathroom door will give a customer a less than favorable impression of the establishment. Again, all of the tasks proposed are very easy and require only basic tools and cleaning materials.
The first TLC Day is on November 3, 2022, and we are encouraging everyone to set aside just 30 minutes to give their home or business a little TLC! And please share any before or after using #TLCDay