First Person Singular by Wendy Braitman

filed in Daily Life

How To Change a Lightbulb

September 26, 2011 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

Before moving into my condo, I had a contractor install a track light fixture in the kitchen. My designer friend who picked it out, said the only glitch was that I might need help changing the bulbs. Today, when a bulb blew, I looked up at the ceiling, and thought: no big deal, I could do that. I’m shaky with heights, but on a step stool, I could just about reach it if I outstretched my arm. I tried a few times, but couldn’t get the bulb out. I flashed back to a scene in It’s Complicated, when Alec Baldwin replaces a bulb for his ex-wife, played by Meryl Streep, and she’s so satisfied by it, almost like sex. For a few minutes, I had husband envy, picturing this as something my father would’ve done. Oh well. Time to call the handyman.

Image: It’s Complicated by Anthony Zinonos

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