Here's a story

So a few years ago at the county fair, my husband bought himself an RC helicopter. he played with it all the time, he loved it and it was his favorite toy. Grown men don't often get to indulge in playing with toys so this was definitely a treat. Well, one day we were gone and the kids decided they wanted to play with it, too. They crashed it into the irrigation canal and it broke. It's been broken ever since, sitting in a box in our closet and he looks at it all the time, wanting it to be repaired. But the silly thing is that the cosmetic damage was easy to repair, it's one little soldered connection inside where some wire needs to be reattached to a circuitboard. Can you imagine letting your favorite toy sit undisturbed and unplayed with for like 4 years just because of one $25 repair. It's $25 if he replaces his soldering gun- I think that's what we paid but nevermind that, we have a friend with a computer repair shop who soldered things all day long. I'm sure that if he wanted to, he could walk in and use HIS soldering gun instead of buying one, then the repair would be virtually free.

Anyway- it just dawned on me that it wouldn't happen with the kids' stuff, it would be repaired or given away or thrown away much faster than that. Why would an adult- who has the means to make it work for himself- choose to let his toy sit dusty and unplayed for so long?  Who knows? I just know that whenever I need a cheap (or free) gift for him all I need to do is get that helicopter fixed and he'll be so happy.