Just Leave It Alone

For many, many years I have been using Corelle dishes. They are practically indestructible, and I like their plain Winter White set because, let’s face it, I’m a bland person. I have had three different sets over the years with only two broken items. I dropped a heavy glass on a cereal bowl, and we won’t talk about what happened to the other piece except to say I broke it. I stopped using two of the sets simply because I was tired of looking at them.

When this line of tableware first hit the market, the cups were a conventional teacup design. Then came this design with the Winter White.

The cups are not the prettiest ones I've ever seen, but I love them because I have never had enough cupboard space, and these cups stack so well due to the design of their handles.

Recently I noticed that one cup had a sliver missing from the rim. I suspect it happened in the dishwasher. There is a Corelle outlet store in Commerce, Georgia, and I thought I would be able to find a replacement cup. I also looked in several other outlet malls, but apparently someone at Corelle decided that these dainty, stackable cups should be replaced by mug-style cups.

Someone came up with this good idea and then couldn’t let well enough alone.

While I’m complaining, I would also like to know what in the world the makers of Dawn dishwashing liquid have done to this formerly very good product. The selling point of the detergent was that the suds would last through all the dishes to the last greasy pan. It was true; the suds did last.

I hand-wash the plastic stuff like those disposable food storage containers and the pots and pans. Until recently, one squirt of the liquid did the job. Now, after all the plastic has been washed I have to add more detergent.

Why, so often, is the new, improved product worse than the old version? My suggestion to the manufacturers is, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”