[UPDATED, thanks to Ethan, with sound track.]
Recently my nephew joked, "You guys are so analog!"
I don't know what prompted that statement, really, but it got me thinking. It's true that we have but one smart phone between the two of us, and that neither of us has formed an intimate relationship with our mp3 players. We do have three computers, though, and I've got a Kindle. Doesn't that count for something?
We don't buy what we don't need. That much is true. (Given how little we use our mp3 players, I guess we didn't actually need those, so . . . I lied.) We don't buy the latest iPhone or iPad, because we just don't feel a need.
A couple of summers ago, when we wanted to refinance, we had our house appraised. We were downstairs with the appraiser when she said, "Can I ask you a question? This has nothing to do with the appraisal."
"Sure," I said, puzzled.
She pointed at our CRT television on its rickety stand and said, "Is that your only TV?"
Well, it was. The appraiser was flummoxed and stammered, "I hadn't seen any other TVs in your house ..." and I said, no this was the only one. Not even a flatscreen.
But the point is, the damn thing worked, so why replace it? Shortly after this dissing of our electronics, the TV expired, so we have now joined the ranks of those with flatscreen TVs. But as long as it worked, we didn't feel the urge to replace it.
I also told the appraiser that we had cancelled our satellite service because we watched TV so seldom. She was taken aback, to say the least. "But what do you DO in the evenings?" she said. I was tempted to give her a NSFW response, but said, well, we read, or talk, or surf the internet . . . And we do have Netflix and Hulu Plus. She shook her head in disbelief.
Our stereo system is ancient, but since neither of us is an audiophile, I don't regard that as a bad thing. We did have to replace the CD player after a lightning strike. And we have satellite radio, although we're thinking of doing away with it in the house. With Pandora and Spotify, who needs it, really?
Okay, so we don't like spending money unnecessarily. I'm sure that this will be a handy trait in the coming years, now that James has retired.
I'm also sure that if we really decide we want/need something electronic, we'll get it. We just don't put a very high priority on getting the latest and greatest.
If that makes us analog, then so be it.
I take pride in our old stuff. Im baffled by people who buy new when what they have is fine. We only have 1 TV too but Al watches sports so often while im reading I'd like noise canceling head phones. 'What do you do at night' comment reminds me of the question people ask me upon learning I'm vegetarian 'What do you eat?' :)
Posted by: Cindy | January 19, 2013 at 10:11 AM
Hah, Cindy, I used to get that too when I was a vegetarian. Well, gee, what did I eat? Everything but meat!
Posted by: Kris | January 19, 2013 at 10:15 AM