From The Storyteller
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Oct. 14, 2019, Improving
Q: Is the electric pencil sharpener sitting on my desk an improvement over the metal pencil sharpener that hung on the wall in my first grade classroom? A: Trick question, could be yes or no depending lots of things. One important thing to keep in mind is the one on the wall survived literally years of 6 year olds grinding away, and my electric desk model might last a day. Which leads me to the idea of “improving” and the new Apple IPhone 11. My smartphone is an Apple 6 plus that’s three years old, paid for, works well, and does all I need it to do. Yet, for the past few weeks I’ve had a tremendous “urge” to spend hundreds of dollars for the “improved” 11. It has have more colors, a better camera, it weighs less, and I care nothing about these “improvements”, nor do I have hundreds of extra dollars just waiting to be spent. When “urges” like this happen I begin to wonder if there is something seriously wrong with me. We’re not talking food, mortgage, and birthday presents for grandkids. We’re talking about a compelling “urge” to buy a new smartphone, when I’ve already got one that works. I confess, more often than I want to admit, when “urges” like this have happened, I’ve made the purchase. Elaine on the other hand is a “wear it out, use it up, eat it all” person (she actually still uses a flip phone). After 35+ year of married life however, with her help I’m “improving”. I know this because I’ve yet to spring for this new phone. Learning to avoid places of temptation, like the tool section at Lowes, is helpful but with Apple’s IPhone 11 everywhere I look, it’s been a close call. Moral: “Improving” is not cured. |