I wanted to buy a new front door the other day. This has become necessary because the old front door is no longer functioning as a door in the usual sense. 'Wind Tunnel' or 'Interstate highway for neighbourhood field mice' might be a better description.
But as always, things have changed in the world of destruction and aggravation aka construction and renovation. Apparently you can’t buy a door anymore. They don’t make them, according to the sales clerk (excuse me… 'Customer Service Associate.') Apparently you now buy an 'Entry System.'
“But I already have an Entry System,” I explained. “The mice are entering all the time. What I want is something to keep them out. Like a door.”
“Let me show you how this works,” he offered. He then demonstrated how to insert a key in the lock and turn the doorknob to activate the Entry System. Not unlike my old door, in fact. I pointed this out.
“But this is a great improvement,” he argued. “See? It’s Pre-hung.”
‘Pre-hung' – for construction illiterates – does not mean you have a hunky construction worker standing by, ready and willing. Nope. Pre-hung means that you don’t have to undo three hinges to slip the old door off and install the new door. Instead, the new door already comes with a frame (and sometimes side windows) attached. To install, you simply demolish the old door frame and rebuild the entire entranceway to fit the new pre-hung frame. It requires 3 men and a boy, and at least two weeks of labour and Starbuck's runs. But you don’t have to touch those pesky hinges, which is a big improvement.
Not surprisingly, Entry Systems cost a lot more than mere doors. This, I pointed out, was not an improvement.
One more thing bothers me about all this fancy renaming business. If they insist on calling doors ‘Entry Systems,’ just what are we going to end up calling toilets? Exit Systems?
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