December 18, 2006

Luxury or Necessity

What Americans NeedThe Pew Research Center has a new report on what Americans consider luxuries. Apparently, not much is considered a luxury anymore and Americans need things.
About our extravagant home:

Car:

  • shared between the two of us
  • Air conditioning hasn't worked for almost a year
  • Heat in the car-now unhappy

Home

  • washing machine dumping water on the floor when the machine runs,
  • no working clothes dryer, (tonight after the children go to bed: laundromat!)
  • home air conditioning that is less than optimal (and we live in FL)
  • We do have:
    • tv (s)-watched rarely-definitely could do without
    • cable* (see internet connection below)
    • a microwave. (I love my microwave, but we have done without one before.)
    • a shared cell phone-we never take it anywhere unless we leave a teen at home or give it to a teen when s/he goes out and may need to call for a ride.
    • computers-well, a lot of computers, none brand new-most recent was the boy child's doorbuster sale computer from Santa last year.
  • I don't have an ipod and can't imagine a life where I would think it was a necssity. One child has an ipod, another 2 have some other brand, I don't think they consider them necessities.
In any case, these are luxuries folks, not needs. Ok, wait, we may need one computer and a high speed internet connection because it would be cardboard box time for us otherwise.

2 comments:

Lee said...

if I was a little closer I would totally come over to look at the w & d...and AC and heat are greatly overrated as opposed to a high speed internet connection!

TW said...

Definitely, high speed=important. AC in the car-not so important.

The washer and dryer-well and truly dead-if it was one or the other it would be one thing.