It's pink. I was going through a pink phase, therefore it all matches and it's equally aged. Currently the age shows. The edges have faded. There is a threadbare patch where a clasp once was. The elasticity is worn and the stand function no longer functions. The compartments on the inside lost their stitching so that what was once 3 now is just one pocket. But, and it's a big but, it still works.
I went to the phone store the other day to try to replace it and was told that my model was "outdated" therefore replacement cases are not available. I was baffled. My options were to buy a new phone and therefore case or keep what I have.
"But it still works." I said with no small amount of confusion.
The man at the counter shrugged. As confused as I was that I didn't jump at the opportunity to upgrade and get the latest and greatest. I could see him trying to calculate if I simply couldn't afford a new phone. He couldn't decide. I was a mess of contradictions. Falling apart bag that acted as a purse. Expensive leather knee high boots. Unremarkable outfit. Jewelry tasteful enough to be real but large enough that it could be fake. Shiny new car.
"But it works. Look," I opened the case to reveal a never been cracked, looks like new phone thanks to the case that I was looking to replace, "see, it works perfectly well."
"It's old. We don't have any of those anymore." Mentally he checked out, walked away.
I calculated, new phone- port numbers, reinstall apps, adjust settings, at least an hour of my time. Time is valuable. Money I can afford to spend, it's a fake commodity. Time is precious to me. An hour is a significant chunk of time in my world. Could be worse. The new case was pretty. The phone a newer model. BUT IT STILL WORKS my brain shouted, It Still Works. Discussion had I turned and left the store.
As I drove home I thought about why I had such a negative visceral reaction to replacing an inanimate object. As much as I could reason it I stumbled upon 2 truths about myself.
Truth 1- I am not and never will be the kind of person who disregards a thing because the next, greatest, latest comes along. I value loyalty. It seemed unfair to ditch something because it was no longer young and new and pretty. It felt shallow.
Truth 2- See if you can follow this logic; I bought the phone case because my previous phone had had to have the screen replaced about 4 times. I was terrible at dropping that phone. When it could take no more I bought the case instead of the insurance in hopes that the case would do it's job well. And it had. 5 years later the phone looked and acted like new, the case sustaining the damage of the drops that I still do with my phone. As a result the case was a wreck but the phone looks new. It's seemed to me to be terribly unfair to replace a thing that had done it's job by taking the hit for another thing. 'I am getting rid of you because you did it right??' Couldn't do it.
I thought about my house, I still have a VCR- because it works. I purchased my washer and dryer new before I bought my house over a dozen years ago- refuse to replace, still works. My kitchen appliances- same thing. Nothing in my house is the latest and greatest, and not because I can't afford it, but because I can't see my way around the logic of getting rid of a thing simply because it's old. I guess in my mind it's age makes it more valuable, not less. It was a good investment. I'll ride it until it dies a natural death, then replace it with the newest thing on the market and do the same all over again.
I like to think I apply this principal to the people in my life. I think of myself as loyal. I know it's one of the qualities I require foremost in my relationships. It seems to carry with it the connotation that even when you're broken, I'll still be here for you and I trust you'll still be here for me. We aren't on the upgrade every few years plan. Granted there have been some friendships that have stopped functioning and I've chosen to walk away from. Sometimes loving someone and letting them go are synonymous.
We often hear that we live in a throw away society. I wonder if it starts with little things like this. A phone case that lost it's beauty protecting a phone- might was well replace both effective things, a phone that still works and a case that still protects... ? That makes no sense to me. Is this where our collective lack of appreciation for good craftsmanship springs from? These very nominal things that we have no qualms about getting rid of? At what point does a phone case become a TV become a car become a friend become a spouse? At what point do we understand that having quality means an investment in loyalty? I don't know.
I am sure that there is someone out here in cyberspace that would convince me that the new phone had a better processing system (I was quite entertained as the salesman used very small words to explain to me what that meant, I chose not to tell him I teach coding and my kids build phones. Leave him his dignity.). And my response to that is the same as is now- I can afford a phone, I-Pad, and a laptop. They aren't the same device, therefore, I don't need a phone to be a computer. I have a computer for that. You miss the purpose. You wouldn't make a rack of BBQ ribs and garnish them with donuts just because you have the ability to. Different things, different functions. Duh.
Things not broken don't need to be fixed. Don't need to be replaced. They need to be celebrated for doing their jobs well. Eventually my case will fall apart. Then at some point I'll drop my phone and it'll break. Then I will be glad my contacts are stored on google drive, toss my old phone in the trash and buy new, never looking back. But not before then. Not a second before then.
I liked crystallizing this lesson about myself- that I can afford the new, in all respects: phones, appliances, people; but I value the process of creating history with a thing.
I am glad that it is beyond my scope of comprehension to toss a thing not broken.
A
No comments:
Post a Comment