Glass

As a people we’ve become exceedingly efficient at things. The other day while driving on the highway a truck kicked up a rock and sent it flying my way, leaving me with a large crack that ran the length of my windshield. Now, normally you call up a guy and he shows up at your house and fixes this thing in your driveway.. Like i said convenient and exceedingly efficient as you might spend no more than 1/2 an hour waiting on it. However i had time to waste and an imagination to sate, so i drove down to the place where they fix em. Here’s where things get difficult, as they’ve gone to great lengths to have this waiting room to entertain you, and there’s all these signs to dissuade anyone from going in the back where the real fun is. So let me tell you what i saw.. Lines and lines of glass for windshields and windows, sunroofs and those little ones that go behind the rear door that don’t really serve much purpose at all. The car whose glass i came to replace though is a bit of an antique though at 28 years old, so they dont have the glass for those readily available. The guy who works there looks through a book, says ‘aha’ then dissapears for a moment before reappearing with a big white mold. He pours in some sand and other things i don’t know, though when i ask what they are, he just gives me a shrug of his shoulders. He packs it together then puts it in a machine that fire blasts the whole thing. And though you can see it, you’d hardly believe thats how glass is made. Like i said people have become really efficient at this. They’ve found just the right temperature to use to temper them just right and everything. Though knowing all that it really pales to how nature does it with lightning. It’s one of the reasons ive enjoyed living in the lightning capital of the u.s., florida. After a good thunderstorm if youre lucky you can go out to the beach and find little hunks of glass where it struck.. The best part is, most people are out looking for shells or other trinkets, though admittedly youve still got to have a good eye to find the things, as theyre practically diamonds in the rough amongst all the shattered beer bottles left there too. Truth be told, even though its just hunks of glass, i think it’s magnificent how it’s made from such a tremendous amount of force, instead of efficiently engineered.