Wonders that aren't so wonderful
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So many people must have the latest and greatest as soon as it comes out, as witnessed by those folks camping out in rain, snow, sleet and dark of night to be first in line to get the newest wonder.
Some of those wonders are not always so wonderful in the long run. There have been computer programs, which never lived up to their billing and anyone who has one knows it. Every product has had its lemons. Yet, people continue to throw out what they have in order to get whatever it is that has just been introduced.
We fall for it in advertising all the time in every day living from laundry soap to ergonomically designed snow shovels, from skin care to diet products, from clothing styles to hair styles even though we all know some of them have been pretty awful and even dangerous.
Morgan and many kids his age are afflicted with this condition. He has often expressed how incredibly inadequate our computer, our TV and my cell phone is. In his mind, everything is junk if it’s not new. My comment that they all work fine for what I need so there is no need to upgrade at this point elicits disbelief and frustration. I tell him when he is in charge of his own household he can do whatever he wants but until then this is it. He is not placated.
I don’t think age is a tonic against being sucked in by the advertisements or promotions. But sometimes it is an asset to have all those extra years because we have had enough disappointments and let downs in life to be just a bit more skeptical and cynical. Some of us are all about if it’s not broken there is no need to replace it and newer is not always better.
Recently, I was introduced to those zero gravity lawn chairs everyone is talking about. These come at many price points and the one I tried was a top-of-the-line selection. Wasn’t sure what exactly a zero gravity chair did but imagined it should feel like I was floating. After some maneuvering I managed to get it to swing me back into a prone position like the old loungers. I waited for the weightlessness to kick in.
It never happened. My short legs didn’t quite line up with the bend that was supposed to be at the knee which was very uncomfortable for my calves and it just felt like I was lying on a net-covered chair. Didn’t get it at all. One great thing is you don’t have to straddle the chair to sit down like the old loungers because the leg part folds down. But at four times the price I can straddle.
Don’t get flat bread, either. Who decided that was a good thing with or without grill marks? I like bread in all its variations - heavy, dark, white, dense, light, with seeds and nuts or fruit, whatever, but I want it fluffy like bread, not squished like a fat tortilla wrap. And I like it well-slathered with good old-fashioned butter. In reality, nothing that says ‘light’ or any version of same, ever tastes as good as the real thing no matter what they tell us.
Why do we have to keep changing up things that don’t need changing and doing very little to improve what really needs some work?
twocentsworth40@hotmail.com