Slightly Off KIlter

[ The first of my responses to last week's writing prompts from Purple Ink, an eList for Journallers. If you keep an online (or offline) journal, consider joining Purple Ink. ]

Desire

Even though the holidays are over, what's on your wish list? What
material things are you drooling over right now? Why?

Speaking of material things, what is your gratification policy? Do you
try to get what you want as soon as possible or do you prefer to take
your time before acquiring new things? Why? What cultural,
environmental, spiritual, and/or familial elements shape your policy?

What material things am I drooling over right now?

Books. Always books. More books!

Why? You have to ask? Because, well, because they're books! Books books beautiful
books. One can NEVER have too many books. (Actually, one can, because one
runs out of shelf space, but I digress).

Prying my thoughts away from More Books!, I'm drooling for a version 2 iPod.
Not because I need one, you understand, because I surely don't. Given that I
am, at present, jobless (again or still, take your pick), I don't even use
the iPod I already have (a 10GB version 1 that is nowhere near to being
full). I only drool for the version 2 because Hubby got one and it's sooo
spiffy with that cool dock and all those wonderful attachments (that I don't
need either) that only attach to the version 2 machines. Sigh.

I'm drooling for a PowerMac G5, too. As with the iPod, it's not like I need
one. My blue&white G3 does everything I need. It has never let me down. But
the G5 is so FAST. Hubby is similarly drooling. He came into my office the
other day and said "I simply can't rationalize a G5. I spend 10 hours a day
at work and I'm not going to buy myself a G5 to take to work. I'm hardly in
my office at home except on weekends, 'cause when I get home I crash. So it
makes no sense to buy one for home. It makes no sense to buy one, period, but
I sure wish it did." I sympathize. I'm home all day and even if I had the
money (which I don't) I can't begin to rationalize a "need".

But then, both the iPod and the G5 have very high Toy Value. Does one really
need to justify a desire for things of high Toy Value?

My gratification policy is fairly simple – if I see something and I think I
can afford it, I buy it. My standards for "can afford" tend to follow this
line of reasoning: under $20 is a no-brainer, under $50 takes thought, under
$100 takes Serious thought, over $100 requires Discussion, over $500 requires
Serious Discussion and (hopefully) buy-in (literally) from Hubby.

My gratification policy needs adjustment.

Unfortunately, there are two problems with this policy. Problem number 1 is,
when you don't have a job, you don't have an income; when you don't have an
income, even $20 should require at least Serious Thought. Sigh.

Problem number 2 is, even when I do have money, all those "no-brainers" can
add up to a number in the "Serious Discussion" category fairly quickly (as I
learned back when I had a job and simultaneously discovered DVDs at
half.com. Yowza! (but I did have fun) ).

My family has always been of the "if it makes sense and we can afford it we
will buy it" mentality. I wasn't brought up on budgets or allowances or
working chores for money. My first "real" big ticket item purchase was the
year after I graduated High School. I decided I wanted a camera, a 35mm SLR
Pentax K-1000 to be precise. At that time, that camera cost $500.
That summer, I took my first
summer job (that was the first summer that my family didn't go on our usual
summer vacation. In retrospect, I'm never quite sure how I feel about that.
But I did love the camera.) I hardly spent a dime until I had the money for
the camera. All money I got for anything went into the bank. Everything I
spent went into a book. When I had enough money my Dad and I went to the
store and bought my camera.

Looking back, I'm both proud and astonished at how disciplined I was in
saving and not spending. I have never been that disciplined before or since.

In Grad School, I was essentially a pauper (redundant, huh?) so I didn't
spend much. When I got my first job, I was, suddenly, relatively wealthy.
Also, I had met Hubby shortly after I started Grad school, and it wasn't
just me anymore when I got that first post-grad school job. Hubby was a
well-paid independent computer consultant. So… thus began my (no longer
feasible but deeply ingrained) purchasing strategy. The only thing that has
changed much in the past 20 years is the monetary values attached to the
levels. $20 used to require thought back when ATM units weren't so…
disposable.