Twenty years ago, life was a lot different for us. There was no internet bill. Or cell phone bill (for a majority of us). Life seemed a lot slower. For me, money was extremely tight. I never really carried more than $20 on me because that was all I really had and that was before all the bills got paid. Answering machines still had micro cassette tapes but a few were digital. I was still buying cd's at the store if, and a lot of the times it was a big if, they happened to have the copy I wanted. There was no "online" store to browse. You really had to want it and you really had to look for it. The Amazon was a tropical location that someone would have to travel to see or you might come across some documentary on PBS. There was no bidding wars on Ebay because that little jewel hadn't been created yet. No one except Craig's friends knew who he was or had even seen Craigs' List. If you wanted to work on a car or build an addition to your house, you had to buy a manual printed on paper or know someone who knew how to if you personally didn't have those skills. There was no helpful tips you could get from YouTube. And remember how mad you would get when someone wasn't kind and didn't rewind that VHS tape you were ready to watch? There were no DVD's or Blue-Rays. Today, if you happen to remember an old movie, a quick search online can produce the movie for you in a downloadable format. Twenty years ago iPod's were still a vision in Steve Jobs head. And all your phone did was make calls. Forty years ago, if I made a phone call, I would have to ask my parent's permission first. Then I would have to remember the phone number or look it up in a local phone book. Back then, the white pages took up a lot more of the book then the yellow pages. Instead of speaking a name for voice dial to dial, I had to place a single finger in a rotary dial and turn it clockwise for each separate digit. Rumor has it, even many more years ago, all you had to do was pick up the receiver and some gal named Thelma would "patch" you through to your neighbor if she knew she was home. Times have changed and I've become impatient. We've all become impatient. Because "here's the thing", back then we really didn't have a lot of options. The amount of options we have today are so extreme that we complain if our cell phone doesn't come in the color we want. Anyone remember being able to actually read a menu up on the board above the counter at a fast food restaurant in less than a minute? In some places, there's five or more options for your salad. YOUR SALAD!! And fries use to be just fries. Ordering was pretty simple back in 90's too. You didn't have a more expensive option of the "extra value" meal either. We have so many options to choose from that half our life is just choosing things now. Have you been in a Super Walmart lately? I actually feel worn out after ten minutes in Walmart because my mind is calculating all those low prices and I have this internal debate on how I could pass up on that neat little item that some factory in China produced for a few pennies but they only want to charge me $1.99 for it. And I know in advance it's a waste of money. And it will be put in a corner somewhere and probably thrown away in a year or two. So I don't buy it. Not anymore. If 2008 and beyond taught us anything, it's to reign in our impulse buying. I guess that's why I hate trips to Walmart or any store for that matter. It's an internal argument I go through staving off that impulse to satisfy some urge or desire for some material thing I didn't even have before I walked through the store doors. And I think my eyes have a problem with all the information overload. The next time you walk into such a store take a moment to stand inside by the entrance and just look out over the hundred's of thousands of products waiting for you. And then remember all you need is bread. Or milk. Just walk in and go directly to the bread. Don't hesitate at the clothing department. Don't suddenly remember there's a new model out for the Roku. Just head back to the bread department and then spend ten minutes looking over the twenty selections available. You see what I'm saying. Sometimes, as I pull into the 100 acre parking lot and take a look at the building it seems similar to some ancient behemoth lying in wait for it's victims. And then I feel like I'm some little sacrificial fool purposely heading to my own demise. I just never dreamed that old beast would be a huge yellow smiley face offering low prices everyday. But we have come a long way since cassette tapes and 8-tracks. How wonderful life is... My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog. For discount coupons and informercials please contact me at rueuhy@gmail.com
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