Broken rubber band

I had no idea what it was when it first happened several months ago. The wind noise that was protruding into the cabin was too much. Overworked and tired my paranoia was high and I had assumed the worst. Perhaps even beyond. I thought the door got bent and for some reason wasn't closing properly, or the door lining was destroyed by some act of sheer carelessness.

After pulling over to the side of the road and inspecting the problem further on that late weekday night, I found that the rubber surrounding the window had been ripped off. Baffled how such a thing could happen my paranoia continued to play up and many irrational explanations followed.

Fortunately the rubber, or runner as it is actually called wasn't expensive to replace. For less than 20 bucks the problem went away. But an hour at the mechanic wasn't welcome.

I was happy to move on from then until several days ago when the problem surfaced on the passenger side of the car. I didn't have far fetched explanations this time but knowing that it wouldn't cost much to fix reassured me.

I always believed the pioneering local brand to be the market leader in defective products. After all, they successfully manufactured the same car for 20 odd years and managed to degrade it's quality in a steady downward trend over they years. Just ask anyone with a faulty power window motor.

I'm not happy to note that my ride - the one I considered the better of two political parties - was susceptible to similar issues. Although nowhere as drastic, I prefer not to deal with niggles like this.

The problem still isn't fixed but I know I won't break a leg in the interim. I put it down to age and use. I still believe that the brand I've subscribed to is better off than it's nearest competitor.

Fingers crossed, nothing else will break.