I first learned about
it almost 45 years ago. Since then it has become a mainstay of my
tool box and work bench. There probably has never been anything
invented that has had such an impact upon the lives of millions of
people. Yes! You guessed it...Duct tape!
My first encounter with
duct tape was in the summer of 1965. It was a summer job and I was
working at a local mechanical services shop that installed air
conditioning and duct work. Imagine that. At one point in its
history, duct tape was used to seal the seams of heating and cooling
duct work. After inserting one end of the duct work into another, it
was screwed together and then wrapped with duct tape to prevent cool
air from escaping at the seams.
Over the years, like
many others, I found numerous other uses for duct tape.
For example, I have
used it to secure pieces of trim that had come loose on the driver
side door of my car.
I recently noticed the
owner of a car parked next to me in a local parking lot had a similar idea and was using
duct tape to keep the passenger side door closed. Not sure how smart
that was! But it seemed to be working.
Many use duct tape to
secure a broken pane of glass until it can be fixed. It may be so
effective that the glass never gets replaced.
Often an extra pair of
hands can come in handy to help temporarily hold something in place.
No vice or clamps available, a piece of duct tape comes in very
“handy”.
I know there have been
people who have made dresses and other clothing from duct tape. Prom
dresses seem to be popular. I actually find that to be a bit tacky,
but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. I will admit that on
occasion I have used a small piece of duct tape hold a pant cuff in
place until it can be restitched, but an entire pair of pants? Not for me.
Now sometimes I think
duct tape gets a bad wrap. As useful and helpful as it can be, it has
also been used in many practical jokes, like taping the teacher's
desk drawer shut or wrapping a co-worker's mid morning snack in
enough duct tape so that they will never get it out of the bag.
A trip to the local
auction reveals its role in keeping well used, well worn tools from falling apart in hopes that someone will purchase them. But duct tape used
to keep a wheel from falling off a lawn mower? I'm not sure about
that one.
While there are many
funny and humorous uses of duct tape, there have been some serious
tragedies too. Adults have been known to duct tape a child to a chair
or tape a child’s hands behind their back for hours and hours
causing severe injury and maybe even death. I don't believe that was the
intention of the inventor, but there is an evil side to society and
unfortunately things will get used in ways they are not intended.
(Wasn't that a social worker who duct taped a foster child to a chair
a few years ago? )
Duct tape is a member
of the 'tape' family, others being scotch, masking and electrical. One
of the actors they makes duct tape so useful, though is it's strength. Ever try
to tear a piece off the roll and not use your teeth or scissors to
assist? And sometimes there will be that last remaining strand of
string that runs along the edge.....If you have ever had this happen
to you, you know what I am talking about.
I hope that's not a
piece of duct tape wrapped around the wing if the airplane I am about
to board. I know the tape is strong, but...My mistake. The
maintenance person is using it to keep his pant legs from flapping in
the breeze. That's a relief.
Often I will take a
piece of duct tape and as I remove nuts and screws from a piece of
furniture, I will stick them to the tape so I won't lose them. I am
sure no one else has ever thought of doing that. Now if I can just
remember where I put that little strip of tape so I can put this
table back together.
The best use of duct
tape however, may have been discovered by our Governor. Admitting
that he often has a problem keeping his mouth shut, he has told his
staff that he now has a role of duct tape in his desk drawer and
“from now until election day, when I want to say something off
color, I am going to tape my mouth shut.”
Sorry Gov. Not sure there is
enough tape this side of the Mississippi River for that!
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