Photographs Reminding Us Of The Eternal Dance Between Creation And Decay
Some things are described as "built to last." Sadly, these products get rarer and rarer as time goes on since most companies figure they make more money in the long run if customers have to keep replacing them. This concept is called planned obsolescence.
Yet even in the sectors not affected by this scourge, it's easy to forget that "built to last" doesn't mean "built to last forever." No matter how sturdy and solid something is, there's no way it can defeat the powers of time. Even if they make a valiant last stand and stick around for decades, everything we're about to see will eventually wear away to nothing. They're already on their way.
There's no predicting what will end up damaging stuff
Although everyone's experienced a paper cut from time to time, that doesn't mean they would necessarily imagine paper doing that to stronger materials. Skin isn't that hard to break, but someone would have to break out some real implements of destruction to mess up the thick plastic on a photocopier, right?
Perhaps if they wanted to smash it up, but it turns out that paper is also quite capable of giving photocopiers paper cuts. As this photo demonstrates, the only difference is that those cuts don't heal once enough paper rubs against the plastic.
It's hard to know how long this took
Although the most striking visual examples of how subtly but inevitably powerful time can be usually involve something wearing away, time can create as much as it can destroy. When something naturally grows, it's easy to underestimate how far that growth will take it and what will happen when it runs into something.
One of the most fascinating examples of the power of gradual growth can be seen in tree behavior. Although it is possible to stunt a tree's growth, they can be surprisingly adaptive to new obstacles. As this photo illustrates, it's especially easy to incorporate that obstacle into its growth when it's growing against another tree. Now, there's a limb bridge!
Most people don't notice until it's already happened
One of the most important features of our bodies is their ability to adapt to the world around them, which means they have a little elasticity. However, it's easy not to notice how much shifting actually happens within the body until it has a consistent reason to stretch in a specific direction.
This illuminating example is very common among musicians who play the guitar or the piano for years at a time. In Reddit user TheCalico's case, eight years of playing guitar have made the fingers on his fretting hand visibly longer than on the other hand.
With the right routines, accidental art can be born
As Reddit user quietryet explained, the way they consistently scrape their spoon against the bottom of this mug while they stir their coffee happened often enough over time to wear these patterns into the cup. While it's hard to imagine how they can stand the scraping noise each time, it's an unconscious habit that they don't always notice they're doing.
Although they weren't made intentionally, the designs are interesting and could even be pretty with a little more polish and color. This led some to assume that the uploader must be great at spirographs, but they said the irony is that they always struggled to make those work.
This is why buildup can only be ignored for so long
When a pipe gets old and clogged, this is generally what people can expect to see inside of it. There's a small hole where water can run through but most of the pipe has turned into a solid mass of built-up debris.
In this case, that debris is mostly composed of limescale. From this photo, it's clear that layers of it have built up at various points. It's almost like counting the rings of a tree but it's all just plumbing neglect.
This isn't as grisly of a discovery as it looks
The entire field of archaeology is essentially dedicated to reacting to the gradual powers of time. After all, one of the most visibly significant effects of its slow, merciless march forward is its ability to wear even the hardest surfaces away. When that wear happens, it can sometimes reveal hidden treasures underneath that surface.
In this case, though, this wasn't an archaeological dig. These old boots were unearthed from some 100-year-old concrete that was slowly eroded by a waterfall. Fortunately, it was only the boots, so it's more likely to be one worker's 100-year-old prank on another than a lost crime scene.
This only happened because of one 100-year-old trend
For experienced masons, this brick wall seems to have eroded backward. Generally, a brick is supposed to be much stronger than the mortar surrounding it because the mortar is cheaper and easier to replace. The mortar's relative ease of deterioration also makes the brick last longer.
Unfortunately, people found this out the hard way after the discovery of Portland cement around 1900. Since this mortar was more resilient, builders figured it would make the walls stronger overall. However, it turned out that moisture was always going to find a path through a brick wall. So, if it's harder to push through the mortar, that moisture will ruin the brick instead.
Time never works alone
Although time is one of the universe's most powerful forces, it's not what ultimately wears things down or subtly changes them. Other factors are slightly chipping away at a structure, but time just gives them a seemingly infinite runway to achieve that effect.
For instance, this strand of hair bears these unique stripes because the person it belongs to takes medication that turns it white. Since that person has gone off and on his medication at various periods, his hair has featured a multi-colored stripe that reflects those periods.
If the damage is old enough, it's hard to explain
When a streak of rust appears in a bathroom stall like this, it has a way of begging certain questions. It's clear that it got rustier and more unsightly over time, but what pattern led the damage to take this shape to begin with?
Did the toilet overflow that many times, is the spray from flushing violent enough to splash the wall this much, or are people just awful at aiming? Even if someone wanted to know they answers to these questions, they can't. According to Reddit user minnick27, it was like that before they started working here.
It's amazing they've been able to last this long
Although this baffled some folks, Reddit user crazyslothslady posted a photo of her father's jeans. Notably, she noted that the leather label on them had shrunk so dramatically over time that two of them could fit in their original outline.
Even lifetime wearers of the brand were unsure as to how that happened, but it doesn't seem like any of them regularly wear the same pair for over ten years. As the uploader told it, that age was the only explanation for this dramatic shrinking.
Nobody knows how long these shoes have been here
As Reddit user rippy123 explained, they work at a bowling alley. Apparently, the staff cleaned out the locker of an employee who no longer works there and found these shoes inside. It's unclear who they belonged to but what is clear is that those shoes were sitting there for months, if not years.
It's also clear that it must be damp inside that locker, as mold like this needs the right conditions to flourish. And flourish, it has, as it would take less time to identify patches in them that aren't covered in mold. It's long past time to throw them out.
This frost is telling everyone something
At first, it doesn't look like there's anything going on her beyond the surface. Since there's a large shadow looming over this lawn, it stands to reason that there would be a patch of frost that the Sun didn't melt away.
However, it's interesting to see where that frost was by the time this photo was taken. Most of it is still under the shadow, but a small strip is exposed to the sunlight. This demonstrates how gradually and subtly shadows move throughout the day.
There's no telling how long this took to happen
As powerful and ridiculously long-lasting as rocks can be, nothing is immune to erosion. Naturally, every type of rock experiences this process from wind, ice, and running water, but it affects different rocks in different ways.
Since sedimentary rocks are made of a lump of packed together grains of sand and other sediments, they're one of the more malleable varieties of rock. That doesn't mean people can bend them in their hands like a spoon but it does mean that natural processes can eventually make them fold like tortillas, which is happening to this layer of shale.
These holes tell their own story
Although it's well-known that a tree's age can be determined by the number of rings in its wood, there are other markers that can reveal what else a tree has been through. In this case, those neatly drilled holes in this sugar maple's lumber show how often it was tapped for its sap.
As Reddit user FrothySantorum explained, it doesn't typically harm the tree to tap it to make maple syrup. However, doing it too often can result in fungal infections, which is the origin of the streaks coming out of some of those holes.
It's hard to believe this is even the same dog
Although even human aging can happen before people realize it when they see each other every day, signs of aging among animals are even subtler. Ten years may sound like a long time, but this picture of a lovely, happy dog demonstrates how quickly they can really go by.
In that time, the large spots around her eyes had gradually faded before they disappeared completely. Although dog hair can get gray, just like human hair, the results can make the dog hard to recognize for those who weren't there for the whole process.
A badge of honor and an informative chart all at once
Life in the southeastern United States can be tough, and one of the biggest reasons why concerns the destructive hurricane seasons the area is known for. However, one restaurant has taken a fascinating step to show how much the fearsome power of each one varies.
It's an informative series of signs, as it shows the staggering difference between more moderate hurricanes like Irene and Isaias and the juggernaut that was Hurricane Ida. It's also a point of pride for the restaurant in that it survived even a hurricane that practically put the entire building underwater.
The more cats, the fuller the tub gets
Although it's unclear why exactly they did this, Reddit user Wide_Environment3107's collection of whiskers shows how much messier pets can make the house over the years. Note that this doesn't even account for the fur, just the whiskers that have fallen out over the years.
It's true that the number of years at play here wasn't specified, but it's still worth noting that it only took two cats to fill the package, which is as much as the uploader has. It's hard to notice these things until someone bothers to collect the evidence.
One little creature's routine can make a permanent change
It's hard to imagine the amount of time and patience it must take for a prison inmate to tunnel out of their cell, but the same subtle, gradual forces they're counting on are all around us. Once enough pressure is put on something for long enough, it doesn't matter how small the source of the pressure is.
For instance, this little pug has been running around this yard and in the exact same circles in the years since its owner first brought it home. Despite how small its legs are, this proved to be enough time to wear a nearly perfect circle into the grass.
This cup has aged more than the character himself
Many cartoon characters are effectively frozen in time. Bart Simpson will seemingly always be ten years old and Shaggy will always be a lanky teenager. However, that doesn't mean his likeness will always follow the same rules.
For instance, this cup once featured the brown hair everyone is used to seeing on Shaggy. Yet, over the years, only that color seems to have faded with the number of washes this cup has been through. Now he looks a little more age appropriate for a cartoon that started in 1969.
It doesn't take as long as it may seem
It can be jarring to see flyers from decades past and seeing how mind-bogglingly cheap everything was back then. Yet, as easy as it is to underestimate how intensely the country has experienced inflation over the years, it isn't necessary to go that far back.
The truth is that prices can climb significantly in just one year, let alone tens of them. As these price tags express, that's all the time it took for the price of this cat food to go up by almost five dollars.
Will this bench even stay visible?
Although trees can grow towards each other and adapt to their newly cramped conditions, it's also true that they can grow over inorganic items they're not supposed to. While it's hardly unheard of for trees to absorb stop signs in their growth, that's just the tip of the iceberg.
For instance, the grating on this bench makes it clear that it was built with the tree it was surrounding in mind. However, it seems that its designer underestimated how much growth the tree still had to do, which means that everything but the seat itself is barely visible. One day, even it might disappear.
It's clearly a common problem
For those wondering what those flakes on the floor of this hardware store are, they're actually marks that were etched into the floor. They're also a very telling indicator of how many steel fittings customers and employees alike have dropped here over the years.
Why is this so common? Well, steel fittings can sometimes carry oil residue, which makes them very slippery. They're also heavier than their size would suggest, which makes it easy to drop them when that weight is misjudged.
That's a pretty creative idea
It was presumably after cleaning out his music room, but Reddit user doublebomb decided to make a wreath out of his old, broken guitar strings. For those who don't play, having enough of these to make a sizable wreath is a sign that he's been at it for a while.
Specifically, this is what 15 year's worth of strings looks like. He showed some real foresight if he had been collecting them for this purpose, but it's still a cool idea, even if he just got lazy about tidiness until recently.
This is 45 years of technology in one picture
Those on the younger side may only be familiar with the bottom row of computer data storage devices, but the period when they were both much larger and a little flatter lasted for decades.
Not only was there a time when floppy disks were actually floppy, but that was true for a lot longer than the period before flash drives when they weren't. It's still incredible how their carrying capacity kept improving as they kept getting smaller. The difference was just much more noticeable in decades past.
Some things are better at resisting time's power than others
Whether it's due to the chemicals involved in printing it or the care this image's uploader showed in not keeping it in direct sunlight, the printing on this McDonald's glass has held up remarkably well.
As Reddit user PhantomRoyce put it, "Special glass cup from McDonald's is over 20 years old and the glass has more damage than the printing." Usually, the opposite is true but circumstances or sheer luck can sometimes give these images a head start in the race against time. Time will eventually win, though.
Even before he was on TV, the M&M's mascot changed a lot
Nowadays, most people are familiar with the cranky red M&M and the gentler yellow M&M in the candy brand's popular commercials. There are more characters than that nowadays, but those two were in most ads. However, the red M&M was the sole mascot for decades longer than those commercials ever aired.
And as this special 75th-anniversary edition of the packaging expressed, it seems that the little guy changed significantly every ten years before that point. While the 1940s and '50s versions hid his eyes between the M, they started to get more prominent in the '60s and larger and cuter with each decade until the design was finalized in the '90s.
It only takes one idea to change a structure forever
Although time is going to have its own effects on everything that exists, it's also true that people's behaviors can have their own effects on even the strongest buildings. And like with normal wear-and-tear, their habits can be subtle enough only to be noticeable after years have passed.
For instance, this wall is part of a school where students have apparently discovered they can shoot staples into it. Once the first kid did this, it was only a matter of time before hundreds, if not thousands, of them followed suit. After many years, the marks of hundreds of thousands of little staples blanket it.
Some chemicals take months to reveal their true effects
Although it's unclear how long this office has been using this particular hand sanitizer, Reddit user Heyo13579 noted that over the past year, it's started to eat through the tiles on the bathroom floor. This office is far from the only place where that happens.
As a commenter named missed_sla wrote, "Take a walk down the nail polish aisle at a Walmart and see what acetone does to those vinyl tiles." Some chemicals are a little too good at what they do, and once enough people spill them over the years, they'll do some damage.
This one chip probably encompasses decades of decisions
Unless someone is moving into a newly built house, there's probably a great deal hidden within its walls that they may never find out about. It's true that this reality is sometimes dramatic enough to include hidden rooms and crevices, but it doesn't have to be.
Sometimes, it can be fascinating just to see how many times the previous owners have painted over the walls. The more colorful and multi-layered a paint chip like this is, the longer that house has likely stood. It's a little like the rings of a tree.
Many old items are carrying more of a load than they seem
If someone were to take apart a dryer or a washing machine, there's a non-zero chance that they'd find a sock or two that somehow managed to slip through the cracks without disturbing the machine's inner working. However, that's not the only tool that can see that happen.
For example, this pin cushion has been used by the uploader's mother for the past 35 years. Although it's unclear why she ripped it open, she discovered that about 40 needles had slipped into its sawdust core in the time she's been using it.
Sometimes time only reflects our own behavior back to us
Although it's never easy to predict what parts of an object will outlive the rest of it after enough time passes, seeing overly specific wear-and-tear can make us aware of our own behavior. Indeed, there's a reason only one strap on this backpack is starting to fray.
As Reddit user charming_quarks explained, "I've used the same strap to pick up my backpack since I started 6th grade." Since that was 13 years ago, it's pretty amazing that the bag isn't more beat up. They must have taken very good care of it.
If a toy ends up looking this bad, it was a great choice
No matter how cute a dog toy is when it's first given to our furry loved ones, the true test that they love it as much as we did when we first saw it comes when it becomes mangled beyond recognition.
Without the pristine one to compare it to, people would never know the toy on the left is supposed to be a teddy bear. It turns out the dog loves it dearly and apparently likes to play rough because it only took two weeks for it to look unrecognizable.
This scene inspired some interesting theories
When Reddit user blubfishkopf posted this photo comparing the wear on two bathroom doors, it led them to make the assumption that the brewery gets more male customers than female ones. Although that's a possibility, other commenters noted that it may not be so simple.
Indeed, one noticed that the panel on the men's bathroom is more accommodating to right-handed guests, while the women's bathroom door is better suited to left-handed guests. Considering how much more concentrated and tightly grouped the wear on the men's bathroom door is, it's just as possible that there are more right-handed customers than left-handed ones.
This does not take long to happen
For some, traditional headphones with earmuff designs are more comfortable than the more popular earbuds. However, the cushy foam on them often doesn't take long to wear away. The more it happens, the more pieces of fluff people can expect to stick to their ear lobes.
Specifically, this amount of wear and exposed insulation only took about six years to show. Depending on the brand, it may be easier to get the padding replaced than to replace the headphones entirely.
This is what hundreds of miles looks like
Although the uploader didn't share how long it took for their shoes to look like the pair on the left, they did make it clear that it happened over the course of hundreds of miles. Whether they walk or run, many people will find that they cross that threshold before they know it.
As for the soles, there's a fairly subtle traction pattern on the new shoes to begin with. Naturally, that means there's barely any evidence that the pattern was ever there anymore, as the soles have become all but flat.
Sometimes, time reveals the manufacturer's sins
At first, Reddit user TheWaterMen's four-year comparison between their new leather phone case and their old one led them to believe that their sweat must be corrosive. Yet, while it's easy to underestimate how much our body's oils can wear details away, others believed it had more to do with a slip in manufacturing standards than the user.
One user named ohheckyeah noticed that iPhone cases started aging must quicker than normal leather typically does after the iPhone XS was released. The uploader was inclined to agree, noting that the case for their iPhone X aged much better than anything they bought more recently.
There's no greater sign of popularity than this
This photo was taken at an indoor playground and shows just how much action the "ride on car" room in the complex has seen since the place opened. Indeed, the only clues as to what the floor originally looked like are in little circles surrounding these poles.
Not only does that mean that kids clearly love this room enough to scrape every last detail off the floors with their wheels, but those circles tell a different story. The fact that they're so defined means that kids love spinning around the poles too.
Not everything is the driver's doing
When Reddit user ryrol posted this deformed armrest on a student driver's car, they seemed to imply that the nervous sweat of multiple students influenced its warped status. Yet, while it may be true that many of them were nervous about their upcoming tests, that's not the full story.
As a couple of commenters noted, a common Subaru design flaw holds that their interiors aren't known to keep their shape for long. Although consumer reports considered the company's offerings reliable in many ways, the longevity of the cars' interiors are consistently lacking.
Some items get so worn that it's hard to tell what they are
If the uploader hadn't explained it, there would be no way of telling what was even supposed to be on the end of this keychain. Indeed, even the knowledge that this is supposed to be Darth Vader can make the accessory's original shape hard to picture.
More specifically, it's a Darth Vader Lego man that has only retained his torso and pale head. The helmet, the arms, and the legs are all gone. To be fair, that's to be expected when something is bouncing around on a keychain for 16 years.
This should never have reached this state of decay
Since this won't be a familiar took to most people, Reddit user Mongoose-of-Steel explained that the object on the left is a half-inch surgical instrument called a key elevator. On the right is the same instrument, but after years of being sent to be repaired and reformed multiple times.
However, a commenter named starbug1988 was horrified at the idea that someone thought the old one was properly repaired when it wasn't even sharpened. Moreover, they said it shouldn't have been kept long enough to look like that to begin with. The uploader agreed and assured them it was thrown out after this picture was taken.
Time had a lot of help messing this wallet up
Although leather is eventually destined to look like this after the elements buffet it for long enough, people were surprised to hear that it only took five or six years to look like it had turned 50.
As it turns out, it's because the uploader's job has them move cut steel around often and they're known to rest it on their front pocket, which is where they keep this wallet. They also weren't aware that leather conditioner existed, which explains a lot.
This is a sign of some hard, dedicated work
Whenever someone shows an oven brush like the one old here, it's always amazing to see that anyone got as much use out of it as they did before it got to this point. As Reddit user settlers90 explained, it only took 20 months for the one in their bakery to transform from brand new to completely destroyed.
Although they would describe their baking work as more time consuming than difficult, the short time it took for this brush to be completely ruined shows they're no slouch about their business. Time may be powerful but it has an even more powerful ally in jobs that require repetitive motions.
Both the key and the truck are on their last legs
As Reddit user thefreakychild explained, they've been driving their work truck for about 300,000 miles and this is what the key has been reduced to in that time. Although they don't have the second key to know if it would work, they joked that they could probably start the truck with a shaved popsicle stick by now.
Despite the age of the key and the ease of starting the truck, however, the uploader isn't worried about anyone stealing it. As they put it, "If someone tried to steal this truck, they'd return it with an apology that I have to drive it."
These cleats are more sturdy than they look
Considering how much damage the friction of ropes can do to a boat's cleats over time, it's all but inevitable that they'll eventually feature deep, gouging grooves like these. However, it turns out that the cleats have proved impressively sturdy to last as long as they have.
That's because they're embedded on a Swedish boat by the name of Juno. That ship is so old that the cleats were installed 150 years ago. Since the vessel is still on the water, it's clear that both it and its cleats were incredibly well-made
This doesn't inspire a lot of confidence among members
While it's true that anything that people use to test the limits of their bodies is going to show a lot of damage after a while, a gym with competent management isn't going to show how much strain their members put on the equipment.
That's especially true in the case of these frayed ropes, which should have been replaced long before the eight years it took for them to look like this elapsed. It's very likely that it's only a matter of days before one of these ropes snaps and hurts someone.