When I was a kid, I remember my mom taking me to the Ace Hardware store when she needed to have a key made. It was always in the back, and there was a bespectacled man (never a woman that I can recall) who was trained in the art of key duplication. He would take the key, identify an appropriate blank from the stand next to the machine, and then he would get down to business.
The machine looked complicated to my young eyes. He clamped the original key in place and tightened a knob to ensure it would not move. He clamped the blank in the other side of the machine and tightened that knob. He put on a pair of safety goggles over his glasses and flipped the machine on. It began to whir as a circular disk of unknown origin started to spin. The machine allowed him to trace the pattern of the original key and use the disk to cut the exact same pattern into the blank. I remember seeing some sparks and watching as metal powder fell down in front of the machine.
Once he was finished, he loosened both knobs. He pulled the fresh duplicate up to his mouth and blew on it. Then he put the original key on top of the duplicate to gauge the success of his operation. He put the new duplicate in a small light brown envelope and handed it to my mom.
Some keys you are not supposed to duplicate, e.g, a mail key. It has the words "DO NOT DUPLICATE" right on it. If you tried giving one of these keys to the Ace Hardware man, he would promptly tell you that by law he cannot create a duplicate.
I thought of this memory walking through the vestibule of Walmart today where I saw a self-service kiosk with a sign that read COPY KEYS 1 MINUTE. It is amazing to me how the process of duplicating a key is now automated, no Ace Hardware man required. I wonder if the kiosk is sophisticated enough to deny duplication of a key that expressly states DO NOT DUPLICATE.
The machine looked complicated to my young eyes. He clamped the original key in place and tightened a knob to ensure it would not move. He clamped the blank in the other side of the machine and tightened that knob. He put on a pair of safety goggles over his glasses and flipped the machine on. It began to whir as a circular disk of unknown origin started to spin. The machine allowed him to trace the pattern of the original key and use the disk to cut the exact same pattern into the blank. I remember seeing some sparks and watching as metal powder fell down in front of the machine.
Once he was finished, he loosened both knobs. He pulled the fresh duplicate up to his mouth and blew on it. Then he put the original key on top of the duplicate to gauge the success of his operation. He put the new duplicate in a small light brown envelope and handed it to my mom.
Some keys you are not supposed to duplicate, e.g, a mail key. It has the words "DO NOT DUPLICATE" right on it. If you tried giving one of these keys to the Ace Hardware man, he would promptly tell you that by law he cannot create a duplicate.
I thought of this memory walking through the vestibule of Walmart today where I saw a self-service kiosk with a sign that read COPY KEYS 1 MINUTE. It is amazing to me how the process of duplicating a key is now automated, no Ace Hardware man required. I wonder if the kiosk is sophisticated enough to deny duplication of a key that expressly states DO NOT DUPLICATE.
it's not that that one particular job being gone which is sad... that job is just a job. It's more so the loss of that feeling of purpose to that person that's now been evaporated. If all such evaporation was replaced by another role of purpose I wouldn't lament. But i believe often we replace roles of seriousness and sincerity with automation.