I feel your pain. It’s sad getting rid of something soundly-built which has served its time well. This item in particular has obviously been a staple in your stationery diet. Maybe you can fasten onto another implement soon.

The worst part is that it will be impossible to ‘trade up’ (pardon the idiom) but they just dont make them (read: anything) like they used to.

randa, that’s terrible.  I’m empressed.

aww. poor old grey swingline. couldn’t you maybe cover him with gold sparkley spraypaint or something? you know, turn him into a really cool um… I mean have him represent… uh… that is… oh hell.

here’s a piece of 20th-century french philosophical thought for your stapling concerns ... “rien ne se perd, rien ne se crée, tout se transforme.”

so ... stapler into paperweight ?

Am I the only one that thought of Office Space while reading this?

Dude, replace the spring with one from some other stapler.