A Question I Couldn’t Let Go

I tried changing the schedule and adjusting the settings. Then I started comparing other motorized shades.

Nearly all of them were called quiet. Very few said what “quiet” meant.

Through a friend who knew the motor industry, I contacted a manufacturer whose product was closer to what I had in mind. I asked if they could change the way the shade started, moved, and stopped.

The answer came over the phone:

“We can’t change the configuration for one shade.”

That was the end of the conversation.

I knew my request was a long shot, but the answer stayed with me. My wife could tell that something was bothering me.

“They’re not going to make it for us,” I told her. “No manufacturer is going to change a product because one family wants something different.”

She paused before answering.

“Why do you think we’re the exception?”

Then she asked:

“What if other people notice the same things? Maybe they’ve just been told this is as good as it gets.”

Until then, I had been trying to fix one shade in our bedroom.

After that conversation, I began to wonder if the problem was bigger than our window.