Really, what genius invented drop ceilings? Who said, instead of a smooth white surface we can quickly roll with paint, let’s hang a flimsy metal gridwork and fill it with thick cardboard tiles that you have remove or lift individually to paint,  Because, even though it’s 20 or 50 times more work to maintain, it looks so much better to have a tacky, busy pattern overhead rather than a nice clean white ceiling.

Update — The late Donald A. Brown of Vermilion, Ohio, patented the drop ceiling in 1958.  Apparently, those who knew Mr. Brown did consider him a genius inventor, according to an article in his local paper written at the time of his death in a plane crash in 2010.  His invention made him a rich man.  I am happy for him.  But it has wasted a lot of my precious hours.