Living in a Different Time
Jan. 7th, 2008 10:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebSomeone recently made a remark to me that reminded me that one of my main strategies for saving money is living sort like people did in olden times. I live in a fifty-year-old house, drive a twenty-year-old car, don't have a TV or cable or cell phone.
Some modern things I miss, like a dishwasher, a dryer, air bags, car lights that turn on and off appropriately by themselves, and HGTV. Some things I don't even know I'm missing. I would give you examples, but, uh.
Some examples of things I barely know I'm missing are text messaging, pushing a button on an earpiece to answer a cell phone, a convection oven, an easy-to-clean glass stove top, a right side mirror for my car, and a key chain button that opens my car trunk while my hands are full of groceries.
And some things I don't miss, like fancy beds that need special sheets, stainless steel appliances, TV commercials six feet wide, and parking an SUV.
I wonder if this sort of behavior puts me in danger of becoming one of those old fogies who fear modern devices. (Also, that thing I have where I don't like change.) There used to be people who didn't trust motorized vehicles (and, after all, if you were drunk, your horse knew the way home and could just take you). Many people in my grandparent's generation refused to get computers, even Macs (which actually might work even if you're clueless) and even if they did know how to type. People in my generation are already famous for being clueless about text messaging, getting free tunes for their ipods, and other stuff I'm clueless about. Who knows how bad I might get when I am actually getting old?
On the other hand, I do play with computers and use ibuprofen and have a digital camera, DVDs, CDs, and fluorescent light bulbs, so there may be hope.
Some modern things I miss, like a dishwasher, a dryer, air bags, car lights that turn on and off appropriately by themselves, and HGTV. Some things I don't even know I'm missing. I would give you examples, but, uh.
Some examples of things I barely know I'm missing are text messaging, pushing a button on an earpiece to answer a cell phone, a convection oven, an easy-to-clean glass stove top, a right side mirror for my car, and a key chain button that opens my car trunk while my hands are full of groceries.
And some things I don't miss, like fancy beds that need special sheets, stainless steel appliances, TV commercials six feet wide, and parking an SUV.
I wonder if this sort of behavior puts me in danger of becoming one of those old fogies who fear modern devices. (Also, that thing I have where I don't like change.) There used to be people who didn't trust motorized vehicles (and, after all, if you were drunk, your horse knew the way home and could just take you). Many people in my grandparent's generation refused to get computers, even Macs (which actually might work even if you're clueless) and even if they did know how to type. People in my generation are already famous for being clueless about text messaging, getting free tunes for their ipods, and other stuff I'm clueless about. Who knows how bad I might get when I am actually getting old?
On the other hand, I do play with computers and use ibuprofen and have a digital camera, DVDs, CDs, and fluorescent light bulbs, so there may be hope.
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no subject
on 2008-01-08 02:53 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2008-01-08 02:54 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2008-01-08 08:01 pm (UTC)To answer your question, though, I'd say relieved. Now bad, tired, and mistaken drivers can mostly hurt me only in two dimensions.
Your question makes me think you might like to read haikus posted by indigo rose on this very topic (http://indigo-rose99.livejournal.com/88262.html).