By Nellie Curtiss….
Last week’s column looked at the movie The Whale (2022) starring Brenden Fraser. There’s another character in that Academy award winning story in its own right, that aluminum pickup artist.
The Reacher-Grabber-Pickup Tool as advertised on television and in AARP magazine, is a stand-up comedian—I mean, a standby-until–you-need-it sort of friend. Charlie, the whale, has one hooked to his walker, another close to where he sits and just about anywhere he might need to reach for an item: his phone, a key, or a pen.
Like other characters we find in literature or films and like Charlie or Liz or Ellie in the movie, Grabber has some failings. Charlie’s addiction to food wins sometimes when he chows down on candy bars; Liz’s tobacco addiction grabs her when she is uncomfortable; Ellie has rolled under the mean girl sled hoping she won’t have to fess-up and be a civil human.
At first, Grabber presents as the tool for the rescue. Sometimes Grabber can pull the key, sandwich, essay up from the floor; and other times, it leaves the magazine, flyswatter or ice cube slipping and sliding on the floor. When Charlie clutched Grabber and extended outward to the item which dropped, he felt the oops pain of mission failed. Likewise, I felt my own frustration when I couldn’t t pick up that Dixie plate that had fallen, or the almond that tumbled out of my precarious grasp, or the face mask that flicked off and landed two yards away, or even that roll of toilet paper that dropped then bowled away. In other words, the aluminum grabber is good to a certain extent. There’s a sense of “I did it” whenever the tool grabs and lifts the crumpled paper into the trash bin. Sometimes I even imagine the tenuous will of an astronaut trying to dock the shuttle to the International Space Station. However, don’t try to get a glass down from the top shelf like the commercial shows—I tried; the glass is too heavy. The Reacher and drinking glass both tumbled down to the top of my head, to the counter and then the floor.
Although the Reacher looks like a cane at times, don’t use it as such. It’s not strong enough and using it like that will quickly cause a fall. I caught myself just in time from falling when I was able to hold on to the arm of the couch instead of the appliance. Whew!
Like Charlie, I’ve fetched a thing or two with the Grabber/Reacher/Aluminum pickup artist. Sometimes yelling through a straw is more successful or growling at the saucer on the floor releases endorphins. As sufficient pressure on the handle travels to the tiny arms, clutching the saucer prevails but those tiny arms only drop it again between the operator’s feet. Thankfully, instant action by human hands saves the ceramic.
Bottom line, be careful out there (or in there) using any version of the Grabber.
09/30/2023
— Nelda Curtiss is a retired college educator and long-time local columnist. Reach her at columnsbynellie.com or email her at columnsbynellie@gmail.com
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