The things in our lives that are well-loved tend to show it because unless we show our love by keeping them locked in glass cases, we often play a little rough with them.
Indeed, the relationship our things have with us is a lot like the one a young child has with the family dog. We’ll squeeze and pet them much harder than we probably should and they sit there and take it with quiet dignity.
With that in mind, it only makes sense that the more time we spend using something, the more haggard it will end up looking as a result.
If your static line looks like this before a parachute jump, you definitely shouldn’t trust it.
Fortunately, this one was retired from that purpose a long time ago and is only used to rehearse jumps from a plane door that’s just a foot above the ground before you take on the real thing.
They may not look like it, but the uploader actually took very good care of these old boots.
As they described it, they subjected the boots to “frequent cleaning, oiling with mink oil paste as well as obenaufs heavy duty LP, and immediately placing my boots on a PEET dryer as soon as I get home.”
It’s just that about three years of forestry work is guaranteed to have this effect on footwear no matter how much you try to slow it down.
We’ve all known what it’s like to do-si-do around the door of a cramped bathroom stall but it seems that it’s not just inconvenient for us.
As we can see, each time someone brings a backpack or other kind of bag in here, it scrapes against this wall.
And when that happens enough, the walls won’t look pristine for very long.
Despite how different they look, there’s only one real factor that separates the experience of being one of these walls with the other.
What we’re seeing in this picture isn’t really an anomaly. One side of this kebab shop is generally in the shade while the other usually sits in direct sunlight.
As we can see, our skin isn’t the only thing that the sun’s rays can affect the color and health of over time.
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If you’re not familiar with the iconography of Wales, you might not notice what’s so out of place about this mug.
I actually have a statuette of this dragon in the room that I write this from when I visited the verdant village of Betws-y-Coed and it’s normally a lot more vibrantly red.
But the difference is that my little figure has just sat there while this cup has seen daily use over the past six years.
If these seems like an unusual groove to wear into a toothbrush, it probably helps to know that it isn’t used to clean teeth.
Instead, this person said that it’s one of the cleaning implements used at their workplace. Probably to get into those hard-to-reach areas.
Although the commenter on this picture just wanted to talk about the uploader’s cat, they intended to draw our attention to these doorknobs.
And it does a lot to demonstrate the kind of polishing that comes from getting worn away by all of our hand gunk compared to the kind we actually intend to do.
Most of these kinds of pictures just tell a story of how widely something is used but this one is…uncomfortably different.
As we can see from the way people’s fingernails have scratched the wall next to this handle, it’s really awkward to use and is likely to give a splinter.
It’s honestly a credit to the craftsmanship by the uploader’s grandpa that this box looks as good as it does after 12 years.
Because while we can see some wear-and-tear has happened to the lid, I’ve definitely seen trunks that didn’t last that long without at least getting a hole in them.
It’s unclear how long this lighter has been kicking around but it’s definitely seen a lot of use.
And that’s because the uploader considers it a valuable day-to-day tool for when they do HVAC and plumbing work.
They didn’t elaborate but that’s probably enough to get a sense of how this got so worn.
This is the difference between a 20-year-old cymbal and a brand new one.
One commenter asked which one sounds better, but the uploader only coyly said that it’s in the ear of the listener.
I wonder which one their ear prefers?
It’s not so often that we see a ceiling with more wear on it than the floors but there’s a particular reason for that in this case.
And considering what’s sitting directly below these marks, it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out what’s been causing them.
This person made these foraging balls out of dyed palm leaf and put sunlfower seeds in them to exercise their parrot’s brain.
And considering how picked apart one of them looks after five months versus how one looks after a week, it seems they’re a big hit with the bird.
The uploader said it was time to change out their Ikea dish soap dispenser and I’m sure the response was a resounding “no kidding.”
Apparently, they were less than pleased to see that this model had been discontinued and that their replacement was apparently less elegant.
By the way, this one took five years to get like this, in case you were curious.
After 7,000 collective hours of use and work that took it across three continents, it was finally time to retire this master mouse.
I’m guessing that the new one is just a different color, though because even that much work doesn’t seem like it should strip the paint off it that much.
Apparently, this is an accurate representation of all of the counters at the uploader’s favorite market.
Well, I guess I can’t say they don’t give the place some character. And they certainly demonstrate how popular this establishment has become.
Although both of these teddy bears are over 20 years old, it’s clear that they experienced those decades very differently.
The preserved one still looks nice and fluffy, whereas the more well-loved one looks like it could fall apart at any minute.
As the uploader explained, “Belt buckle that a friend got me, it’s been in my pocket for 10 years.”
If it seems strange to keep a belt buckle anywhere besides on a belt, they said that they tried wearing it but the wings kept poking them.
But since this was the first gift that friend had ever bought for someone, they still wanted to keep it close.
If it seems like this person let their bite guard stay in their mouth for way too long before replacing it, it helps to know that wasn’t by choice.
As they explained, “After almost 10 years and multiple pieces swallowed in my sleep, my insurance company finally agreed to cover a new bite splint.”
It’s certainly no secret that getting them to do that can be a pretty Herculean feat.
After 19 years, this is the state of one dad’s steering wheel.
If it seems really hard to picture how this could have happened, it apparently doesn’t take long for the foam under the faux-leather exterior to wear away if the casing that’s supposed to take all the punishment is already gone.
From there, you’re looking at a year, tops before you start seeing the steering wheel’s inner workings.
