50 Fascinating Photos Showing How Time Wears Everything Down
There is something deeply humbling about realizing a set of brass doorknobs has a more documented history of hard work than I do. The r/WellWorn community is basically a digital shrine to the fact that everything—from your favorite pair of boots to the very foundation of civilization—is slowly being sanded down by the simple, relentless act of existing.
Seeing a marble floor literally dipped in the middle from centuries of footsteps makes my own daily “to-do list” feel like a light suggestion, proving that time eventually wins every single fight it picks.
1. “My Coworker Is Still Using The Same Post-It Note For 2 Years To Check His Pens”
2. “Steps Leading Up To The Old Wall Around Dinkelsbühl, Germany”
3. “6 Lines On My Fingernails, One For Each Chemo Session I Had Recently”
4. “A Chunk Of My Red Hair From When I Was 16 Compared To My Faded With Time Hair Now That I’m 27”
5. “Blanket With 25 Years Of Love That’s Being Put Away For Safe Keeping vs. An Unused Version My Spouse Surprised Me With”
6. “My Mom’s Dog Can Open The Door, And This Is Where Her Paw Has Worn Down The Wall Over The Years”
7. “This Rug In The Old City Center Of Cluj-Napoca”
8. “My New Prosthetic Foot Shell Versus The One I Walked On For Two Years”
9. “This Spoon Has Been In My Family For About 70 Years, And Still Going Strong”
10. “Every Pencil I’ve Used Up In The Last 3 Semesters”
11. “Floor In Front Of The Counter At The Pharmacy I Go To”
12. “This Stand At A Restaurant Has A New Candle Placed One After The Other”
13. “2-Year Difference”
14. “My 2-Decades-Old Water Bottle Gave Out Last Week, And Nalgene Just Sent The Replacement”
15. “Strasbourg Cathedral”
16. “Brand New Pikachu Replacing Its 15-Year-Old Sun-Bleached Cousin”
17. “27 Years Of Daily Cuddling Including Many Attempts To Repair Him”
18. “My Daughter’s Favorite Stuffed Animal ‘Scratch’ vs. The New Backup Replacement”
19. “Step At Westminster Abbey”
20. “How Sun-Bleached These VHS Tapes Are. The Whole Display Was The Same”
21. “The Difference Between A Brand New Sketchbook And A Full One (The Same Exact Sketchbook)”
22. “Before And After Water Filters From The Water System At My Work. 7 Days Of Use”
23. “18-Year-Old Tyvek (Never-Tear Paper) Wallet Next To A Brand New One”
24. “My Finger After I Finally Got Off A Ring That’s Been On For 2,5 Years Straight”
25. “Brand New Work Boots And The 6-Year-Old Boots They’re Replacing”
26. “My Scrub Daddy”
27. “This Worn-Out Road After Buses Stopping There Every 1-4 Minutes”
28. “These Stairs In A Church Bell Tower”
29. “The Hoodie I Am Wearing When Working From Home, Window Is On The Left Of The Desk”
30. “Old vs. New Chocolate Chips”
31. “Behavioral Biases. Distribution Is Pretty Normal, But 95 Always Rounds To 100”
32. “I Saw People Sharing Their Wear And Thought I’d Share The Wear On My Almost 10-Year-Old Docs”
33. “The Way These Door Handles Have Worn Down The Wall They Hit”
34. “Cards After Being Played With For Almost 20 Years”
35. “Winnie-The-Pooh Baby Blanket: New vs. 21 Years Of Use”
36. “My Work Overalls When I First Thrifted Them In November 2020 vs. April 2023”
37. “3.5-Year-Old Wire Brush Used Every Day Compared To A Brand New One”
38. “The Wear On My Clipboard After Three Years Of Taking Data For Speech Therapy”
39. “My Partner’s Headphone Dent From Gaming”
40. ” New Hat vs. 1 Year Of Regular Use. They Started Out The Same Color”
41. “The Remains Of This Hammer Stuck In Asphalt”
42.
43. “People Have A Favorite Soda At This Taco Bell”
44. “The Effects Of Himalayan Sea Salt On A Book”
45. “The Pristine Q On My Keyboard Cover After 5 Years Of Use”
46. “This Old Worn Key vs. A Freshly Cut One For The Same Vehicle”
47. “One Of My Mom’s Snow Globes Has Gone Black”
48. “This Shift Knob Is From A Work Truck”
49. “My Wife And I Got This LEGO Figure At The Same Time. She Keeps Her Keys (Right) In Her Purse And I Keep Mine (Left) In My Pocket”
50. “My Baby Blanket. I’m 22 And Can’t Sleep Without It”
