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Carl R. Howerton | all galleries >> Photo Journals >> Changing Cultures > Room Key With Circuit Breaker & Colorful Beads
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11-MAY-2007 Carl R. Howerton

Room Key With Circuit Breaker & Colorful Beads

Hotel Bella --- Selcuk, Turkey

In this part of Turkey most people have modest means; under-employment among the young men in particular is a serious problem. In some neighborhoods the citizens are downright poor by American standards. In spite of this, their material culture has much in it to admire. Take the hotel room key as an example. On each key ring here there is a circuit breaker. You cannot leave and lock your door without opening the circuit controlling the lights and the air conditioner. There is an approximate ten second delay after removing the key apparatus before the lights go out, allowing you time to exit before the room goes dark. I worked in the housing business for thirty years in The States, yet had never seen such a thing. Unlike the plastic card issued in United States hotels, this has character as well as energy conservation built into it. The beads and the metal squares bearing the numbers were a gift from a friend of the hotel. Not only is it beautiful and interesting, it represents human connections. The human connection on the U.S. room key will typically be to a local Pizza Hut or to another commercial establishment. The Turks seem to add a splash of handmade color to everything they do; and it appears that almost anything built or repaired here gets done by a family working together. The carpenter or mechanic does not go into a labor market to hire a worker. He simply puts his son or cousin or nephew or brother-in-law in the business and goes right on.


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