Old Ain’t Better

by Gene Shelburne

Coolidge Winesett found out that doing things the old way isn’t always the best way.

His old john had served him well for over half a century. When I read his sad story, however, I found myself wondering why on earth any modern American would still be using an outdoor privy.

In my book, indoor plumbing is just about the finest social improvement in my 60-plus years.

Years ago when I would go to preach in rural Indiana, a gracious couple often invited me to dine in their home. Their Hoosier hospitality was flawless. But after the first visit there, a guest had no excuse for being surprised that in an age when men were walking on the moon, these folks had not yet plumbed their house. They still had a two-holer and a path.

So did Coolidge Winesett. And this 75-year-old Virginian used it one time too many.

Without warning one day the rotted wooden floor of his ancient outhouse crumbled and unceremoniously flushed the unsuspecting occupant into the cavity below. Winesett’s precious privy swallowed him alive.

Three days passed before the mail carrier heard his feeble wail and found the hapless fellow huddled in that horrid hole, starving and covered with maggots.

Mr. Winesett’s close friends probably don’t find the story of his near-fatal plunge the least bit amusing. But his moving experience did make the national news last summer, and strangers like us who hear the tale from afar mean no disrespect to the poor fellow when we find it hard to suppress a chuckle.

Not knowing the outhouse owner personally, I have no way to know why he resisted the current trend toward porcelain potties. But it seems obvious that he could have avoided his smelly brush with death if he had shelled out a few shekels to update his plumbing.

Why do some of us insist on clinging to outdated concepts and old-fashioned ways?

Why are those of us with gray hair so often adamant that “the old is better”?

I write these words as we stand poised on the brink of a new year. Most of us can enhance our lives by embracing its newness and leaving some baggage behind, can’t we? After all, God himself points the way when he tells us, “I am making everything new.”