After working years in advertising trying to convince you to purchase the latest gizmo or consume the latest taste or surround yourself in the latest and greatest that is offered by manufacturers as a ‘must have’ to satisfy your ego and impress your friends, I’ve adjusted my need list.
I still get as many ads as you do with tempting deals on items that can wind up in your garage or yard sale.
I’ve been just as affected by the commercials and the peer pressure as everyone else to adjust my fashion and my hair style and what music to listen to and what television programs to disgust at the water cooler to fit into culture.
Then I would buy those things that would make someone else happy and the piles of ‘stuff’ stacked up to a point of wonder.
Without having family to toss out the trash, I had to go through years of purchases and accumulations to move ‘stuff’ from closets to the landfill. Each item had a history.
So now as being indulged by messages and alerts of wonderful products that everyone needs to have to make their life complete, I pause.
I defiantly fell for the digital desktop computer. I understood the possibilities and complied with the upgrades. The cell phone was the upgrade walkie-talkie and made sense for a guy on a bike.
Now when the BIG SCREEN TV came out, I wondered why would I want to fill a wall with a flat screen that has high definition to show the nose hairs of the Super Bowl quarterback. Do I need that? Even when digital TV came out, I bought the array of conversion boxes and antennas rather than a BIG SCREEN TV.
There are items I grew up with that I needed to purchase for my edification. A refrigerator, a stove, a sink, a toilet were all necessitates. I regret how many versions of these essential items I bought and threw away.
The automobile was probably the most controversial item for a decision of purchase. I did purchase a mobile machine so my wife could drive home instead of waiting for a bus in the middle of the night in a bad part of town. It was an emotional decision but the rational purchase of a product that depreciates as soon as you sign on the dotted line.
So now, at this age, I view purchasing items with a hopeful economic mind. Do I really need that?
Should I get a gutter helmet when I don’t have any gutters? Should I get an auto warranty when I don’t have a car? Should I get the latest pill that will grow my hair or make me thin or give me some sort of sexual drive?
The one I like the best is the walk-in tub.
It sounds as interesting as the Veg-O-Matic or Ginsu knives. For about $8k a plumber can come into your bathroom, rip out your bathtub and install a tube with a door.
The selling idea is ‘an easy step in’ and ‘a chair once inside’. The ads look so enticing, but…
The walk-in tub needs to be empty when you enter. The porcelain seat might be cold as you close the door and lock it to secure leakage then dial in the water flow. As the water heats up and covers your ankles, you get to sit and wait and shiver. Once the water gets to the point of a hot tube you can sit and relax, but…
Water will cool and to add more warm water, the tub needs to be drained with you sitting there. Meanwhile all the filth that is washing off your body is forming a slick film that will coat you and need another washing.
Once the enjoyment of sitting in a cooling tub of slim is over, pull the drain BUT don’t open the door. Just sit there until all the water is down the drain, then you can open the door and wipe off.
Isn’t that refreshing?
My logic is I have a tub. I have a two-step rubber stool, which can double for a seat. I can lift my leg over the 2’ porcelain wall (so far) and pull the plastic curtain closed. I can turn on the water and let it warm up on my feet, then switch it to a shower. I can sit in a warm steamy rainfall, sudsy up and rinsing off without moving. Turn off the water, pull back the curtain, stand up and step over the edge.
I also considered a hot tub and an eternal pool but couldn’t see the constant maintenance. I did dig a 5’ hole in the yard (to use the dirt for raised beds). My wife put a blue tarp in it and filled it with water, complete with a floating canoe. Later a series of pumps and plants and koi gave a water feature to the ever-growing forest. After all the fish died, I had the hole filled with dirt.
I bought as many books as everyone else. I bought as much vinyl as everyone else. I bought as many timely fashions as everyone else under peer pressure to fit in. I bought many bicycles and did a splurge purchases on guitars, but now you’ve got to knock my socks off to get my attention.
I’ve got enough clothing that will keep me warm and covered for many more years. There are plenty of socks and underwear and towels. There is more than enough furniture and lamps and stereos for any one house to use. There are enough vacuums and brooms and mops but they are covered in dust.
The recent purging of books I would no longer read again reminded me of what I need. It also reminds me of what I want.
When I see all the offers of streaming apps for movies I wouldn’t pay to go into a theater to watch, I don’t have to think twice. When I hear the latest recipe for the foodie trend, can I taste it without making it? Would I like it? Should I buy it? Whatever the latest and greatest software innovation, should they be downloaded? Do I need to Tweet? Do I need to Instagram? Do I need to TikTok?
Does aging make me wiser or advertising less appealing?
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