Senior Moments

Senior Moments

By Charles P. Eberson

A Senior’s Observations, Opinions and Rantings
By Charles P. Eberson
I am not a shopper. I don’t browse. I am more of a buyer. If I need a particular shirt or pair of pants, I enter the store locate the item, buy the item and exit the store without really looking around very much. Now I am in the market for a new laptop. Computers have always been supplied to me by previous employers so the last one I purchased was a desktop about 15 years ago. I’ve done my research and narrowed the search down to a few models but before I made my decision I wanted to actually see one up close and personal. I wanted to see how typing on it would feel, how well the touchpad worked and if a touch screen was an important feature for me. This meant I would have to go to a local store to test drive a few. What gave me pause when I entered the store was the sheer number and variety of electronics on display. My technical knowledge might not quite elevate me to nerd status but I feel I have a pretty good grasp on what the marketplace has to offer in the field of electronics. I just have not had a reason to be in a place where they are all displayed together and in such quantities. Granted, they stocked up for the holidays but I am sure buyers for these stores have done their due diligence and are confident that consumers will step up and purchase most of the items. I took some time and walked up and down the aisles noting the vast array of electronics and accessories competing for our dollars.
This jarred my memory and brought me back to my childhood. My parents were rather modest in the way they lived their lives but we never felt we were lacking anything. They never had a new vehicle but they did have two sensible good used cars. When holidays and birthdays came around, there were always gifts and when I married and had children of my own it wasn’t long before I would feel the pressure of raising a family. My wife and I were working full time trying to provide a decent standard of living for all of us and at times, it was quite challenging. My dad had his own beauty shop in Margate and my mom was a seamstress doing alterations on the neighbors’ clothing after my brother and I were put to bed. Still, my parents managed to take us every couple years to England where my mother was born and her family lived. I had to ask my mother just how did they do it. Her answer was so simple it has stayed with me all these years. She said “We did not have as many things to spend our money on as you do today.” There was no TV cable, no cell phones, personal computers, no internet. These things enhance our lives to a degree and I wouldn’t want to give them up but walking through the electronics department really shed a light on what she said. In addition to the cell phones were the cell phone cases, waterproof cases, protective glass products, ear buds and car chargers. Then there are the video game consoles like Nintendo, Playstation, Xboxes, controllers, headphones and of course the games ranging from $25 to $60. There were robotic kits from $20 to $80, virtual reality headsets and games. Fitbits are available so we can monitor our activity among other features. There are all different sizes of tablets if you want to use something other than your computer or smart phone. Of course you will want a case for your tablet. Drones are hot now and can range from under $40 and up into the low thousands. Who wouldn’t want to mount a dash cam on the dashboard of their car on the odd chance that you will be fortunate enough to capture someone else’s catastrophic misfortune? You might also need a GoPro camera to record your friends epic fail and be a YouTube sensation. By the way, you are going to need a bunch of mounting hardware for the GoPro.
At the time I asked my mother that question I realized that my wife and I had five TV’s in the house. It didn’t seem excessive but still, FIVE? One was in the living room, a small one in the kitchen, one in our bedroom, one in our son’s room and one in our daughter’s room. Yes, excessive. Our kids have grown and moved out. We removed the TV’s from the kitchen and bedrooms and are down to one in the living room just like my parents. I love technology and am fascinated with new advances but when I think about how cool it would be to have the newest widget, I remember how she had answered my question.
By the way, have you ever seen the size of the closets in the old houses?

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