From everything to very little

 Most of us reading this live in North America, a land of opportunity, and a place where you can have it all. I should know better than anyone just how available things really are... I work in a hardware store.
 In recent years, many things have changed, world-wide. China produces ALMOST everything these days. World-wide, people complain about China-Cheap, here is no different. The main difference is that here people complain about China-Cheap, but deep down they are glad because at least they have something. For those of you who have always wondered how to be resourceful if you don't have something you need, here's a story for you. Yesterday,with Jon Christiansen's advice, I fixed a stroller for the Epperly's, a husband-and-wife team of doctors.
  The stroller had been sitting in a corner of our guest house since long before Michelle and I had arrived here. Earlier this week, three doctors had arrived from Wichita, Kansas; and had brought with them an innertube repair kit. Jon asked me for help on repairing the tube. We found a thorn about an inch and a half long, embedded into the tire and tube. I showed him what to do, roughing the area, applying rubber cement, and the patch. Then I took the innertube to the air compressor in the maintenance department, which is almost entirely on the opposite side of the compound. With only a little air in it, the tube started hissing like a snake ready to strike... this tube was shot, at least by North American standards. There were holes everywhere. It was worn out.
 I advised John Epperly that in North America it would be garbage, but of course there weren't many choices here. Tubes basically don't exist here in this country, but then again neither do innertube patch kits. The doctors had brought the patch kit for him, so it was up to him, though I didn't think that there were enough patches to resolve the problem. John considered his options, and decided to get some practice installing all of the patches.
 After we remounted the tire on the rim, I rolled the stroller down to the air compressor. It hissed like a snake ready to strike, going totally flat in seconds. The other two tubes held air perfectly.
 It was time for Plan B. Jon Christiansen had recommended to me that if it wouldn't work, we use an old rubber from an old wheelchair. Sure enough, I found a half of a wheelchair in the garbage pile out back. We don't throw anything away, here. The wheelchair remnants had one large wheel still on it. Treasure!! I popped the old, worn-down, cracked rubber tire off of the rim, and cut it to size. It was solid rubber. I placed it inside of the tire from the stroller, and reininstalled. Success!! It was almost better this way, since it will never again go flat.
 i thought the old inner tube was trash, but Jon said it will be cut into long ,narrow strips to use for tying things up! TIA!!