Yeah, that part about it "seeming like overkill" is exactly how I used to feel. I'd just tweak the rollers on my patio door and ignore the grit in the track. Then one day it jammed so bad I thought the wheel broke. Cleaning out a little pile of sand and dead bugs fixed it instantly. Now I keep a brush nearby and do a quick sweep first every single time.

Hold up, is rust really such a huge problem here? I get that rust and carbon are different, but does it matter for cleaning? Citrus cleaner has acids that can eat at rust too, not just carbon. I've used it on rusty stuff before (like old tools) and it worked okay. Special rust removers might be overkill unless it's really bad. Sometimes we overthink these things when a simple solution does the job.

Ngl it kinda had the opposite effect for me. Seeing how hard they had it just made our own stress feel more silly and pointless, not smaller. We have all the answers and still feel just as lost.

I get @cameronward's point about rushing to get more done, but is it really that big a deal to slow down sometimes? Missing one bus and seeing some flowers isn't going to solve all your problems. We all need to chill, but let's not act like it's life-changing.

Disappeared? It never really went away, just got less popular for a bit. Do you explain it as a premium material that lasts way longer?