Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1039010
NORTHSHOREMAG.COM 44 OCTOBER 2018 ILLUSTRATION BY LOGAN SPECTOR LIFE AS A SERVICE Will subscription services simplify my life, or just give me more to manage? By Calvin Hennick It begins with a toothbrush. As an experiment, I've signed up for virtually every subscription box service I can nd, attempting to simplify basic tasks like feeding and clothing myself—tasks that, even as (and maybe especially as) a 36-year-old father of two, often prove more challenging for me than they probably should. My closet is full of worn-out T-shirts and dated items like boot cut jeans, and my fridge is stocked with pre- made supermarket salads and frozen meals. Surely it won't be dicult to improve on this. My rst delivery is a slim package containing a plain white toothbrush. e product's gimmick is that it's weighted to always keep the bristles upright, even if I drop it, but I don't care about that. I care / L I V E + P L AY / artisanal whole-bean coee, impressive travel photography books, trial-size vials of designer cologne, and craft kits for my kids. My wife even gets in on the action, receiving handmade olive oil soap and a subscription box for teachers containing cord organizers, tea, a pair of pretty silver earrings, and wildower seeds. (Truly, there appears to be a subscription box for everything. Among others, I skip out on services that would deliver baseball cards to me every month or turn my Instagram pictures into a steady supply of wall art.) It doesn't take long for me to answer my initial question about whether these services will simplify my life. And the answer is "Yes, but …." Yes, getting my groceries and my about the fact that I always forget to buy new toothbrushes, and the one in my bathroom is matted and gnarly. I drop it in the trash and replace it with the shiny new one, smiling with the knowledge that another will arrive in 90 days without my having to do anything. It's a small victory. But if I can somehow outsource all of these little details of my life— replacing my toothbrush, buying groceries, shopping for clothes—then maybe I'll feel like I have enough time to get the big stu right. Later on the same day, delivery people arrive on my porch with packages containing a colorful pair of socks, a box of chips and cookies from South Korea, vegan nutritional supplements, and paleo-friendly snacks. Before long, my house is lled with