I know a lot of people are extremely attached to inanimate objects. Just look at almost anyone’s basement. I’ve tried to purge mine, but it’s still not exactly an organizational triumph.
Then there’s the shocking (to me) fact that more than 30 percent of Americans pay for storage units. We’re just a nation that can’t let go of old furniture and clothes, lots of clothes.
Weird right, the clothes thing? Apparently, clothing is one of the most stored items. A month ago, I would have found that hard to believe. But then I helped my daughter move (again) and I totally understood that informational nugget.
Although I can’t exactly throw shade at anyone’s emotional bond to their belongings. This is because I suffer from an odd fondness for cars and technology.
For years I drove a Toyota minivan. My kids had gone from baby car seats to middle school in this vehicle. It didn’t matter to me that it had seen better days or that it featured the aromatic stylings of French fries and wet dog mingled with the off gassing of flip flops and tennis shoes.
When the minivan hit the 225,000 mile mark my husband told me it was time to buy a new car. I knew he was right but it gutted me to give up my van. When I traded it in for a brand-new car I asked for a final moment alone with the wonder that is the Toyota Sienna and cried.
The minivan was like a time machine. It reminded me of soccer games, the first day of school and summer slushies. No longer having the van was like leaving a part of my kids’ childhood behind.
It took a while but I did come to love my new car and drove it for 200,000 plus miles but no vehicle will ever be as special to me as that minivan.
I also have the same weird devotion to my computers. I have a desktop Mac that I have used for ten years and although it was becoming slower with age (I’m talking it took so long to open a Word document that I could use the time to go get a snack in my kitchen) I couldn’t seem to part with it.
Every time it had to have a systems upgrade, I prayed the added burden of new technology wouldn’t make it finally go to computer heaven.
When I inquired at the Apple store about what to do about my slow computer and disclosed its age the Genius Bar dude looked shocked and told me the solution was simple – get a new computer.
“Well duh,” I said to the genius, “but what if I don’t want to get a computer?”
That elicited some serious side eye and his curt response was, “Well then just make sure you’ve backed everything up because your computer has a pretty good run.”
I couldn’t argue with that fact. But I found parting with my computer very difficult. I had written three books on it, hundreds of newspaper columns and more than a thousand blog posts. That computer was my happy place. I didn’t want to say goodbye.
My son was the one who finally staged a computer intervention (but not without first telling me that “only old people use desktops”) and last week I got a new Mac. It’s super fast and loaded with technology improvements that I didn’t know I was missing out on.
I love it but yet I still yearn for my old Mac. I haven’t recycled it yet. I’m working up to that. In the meanwhile, it’s sitting on a desk in a guestroom and every day I blow it a kiss. It’s the least I can do for such a cherished friend.
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Speaking of cherished friends if you haven’t had a chance yet I would love for you to take a gander at my newest book. Click on the link and enjoy!
Snarky in the Suburbs 