Some guts to question a family tradition" is exactly right. I bet it was more of a slow burn than one big failure, probably he kept seeing small issues pile up and finally realized his grandpa's way wasn't working anymore. Six years is a long time to just go along with something that doesn't feel right. Do you think he ever talked to anyone else in the family about it before that guy spoke up?

Fifty cents isn't even worth thinking about though.

Honestly, I can't believe you spent TWO YEARS fighting it over $13, that's wild to me. The amount of time I've seen people waste avoiding Procreate because of some weird gatekeeping about "real software" is honestly insane, like it's just a tool that works. Tbh I had a similar thing with Clip Studio Paint, kept thinking it was only for manga artists when it's actually amazing for general illustration too.

Now people see you standing down there and they'll follow" - come on man, that's a bit dramatic. The whole point is that people are creatures of habit. They stand in the same spot every day because they always have. One person walking to the end of the platform isn't gonna change the entire crowd's behavior. The bus loads faster too because less people are crammed at one door fighting to get on. The driver doesn't have to wait for twenty people to squeeze past each other. I'd rather see a few smart people spread out than everybody standing in one giant blob. You're acting like one person finding a better spot ruins the system, but really it just shows the system was dumb to begin with.

Wait, your flue laughed at it? Like made a noise or just completely failed to work? Did it at least do anything before it died?