Some weeks ago I was passed this meme by Joel, one of my earliest readers - to list five things that people in your circle of friends or peer group are wild about, but you can’t really understand the fuss over. Good opportunity for some mini-rants. I started out well but ran out of steam before I got all five. I don’t know when I will get back to it so I am publishing with the stipulation that I can come back at any time and complain about two more things. Here’s my list so far.
1. Jet skis or “personal watercraft” or whatever they are called. Call me an old fogey but what is the point? They are like motorbikes for water but there is no transportation element involved and you can’t really do anything else while you are riding, like talk or fish. So it’s just pure excitement, like riding a roller coaster. I can imagine renting one for an hour, but spending thousands of dollars to own one? Can it really be that much fun to roar around in a circle? I bet after a season they wind up gathering dust in the garage. My annoyance at these things increased about ten-fold after I learned that the noise is optional - they can install mufflers to make them as quiet as any other motorboat.
2. Lawns. Okay I have a lawn too. It would really be way too time-consuming to devote the entire yard to a garden, unless you are rich enough to have a gardener. Gardens are extremely labor-intensive. Grass is the simplest and easiest thing you can do with a yard. All you have to do is mindlessly cut it all to the same height. But I have friends and neighbors who slave over their lawns, trying to get out all the weeds, watering and fertilizing. And what do they get out of it, besides looking just like every other yard in the block?
3. iPods. Sure it seems attractive to me to have all the music you like contained in a tiny little device you can put in your pocket and take everywhere. But who has the time to download all their music onto these things? And I don’t really want to start walking around in my own virtual world with headphones on. In the same category I place those portable DVD players, which children are unable to travel without now.
Comments (6)
The TV tops my list. We have one, but we live far enough from any of the stations that nothing comes in. We use it to watch DVDs, occasionally.
Recreational sport vehicles as a catagory are second - jet skis, snowmobiles, atv/three/four wheelers.
Status cars. What are you buying for all that money? Nothing. A nameplate. *scratches head* I’ll never get this one. I was mad at Ford when they discontinued my old reliable - the Escort. I’m still driving my 1994 model wagon. It’s pushing 200,ooo miles, and going strong. Good car.
I can’t find a number five. Hmm. Have to think about it for a while. I’m sure I’ll find one.
And I found it. Video games. Expecially the interactive internet ones. Oy, what a time sink. And, in my opinion, STUPID. Giant scavenger hunts. Bah. And half my friends are sucked into these, so gatherings are blah blah blah City of Heroes, blah blah blah World of Warcraft.
I’m going to start bringing crafts along to do something when they knot up and start nattering on about it…
OOOO I gotta narrow this down,…too early to think!!
I have to second the lawn fetish, especially having to pay for the circulating chemical/poison trucks that periodically spray the grass to keep the “weeds” from growning. When I was growing up in rural Georgia, your lawn was whatevr was green that came up in the spring…including johnsongrass, dock, wild onions and plantain. And it smelled so good when daddy mowed it, nothing like the lawns of today.
Without my iPod I couldn’t garden and study Japanese at the same time. I don’t use it all the time. I like to spend most of my gardening time with natural sounds. But when I have to spend hours watering or weeding, I’m really happy for the iPod and my audio books.
Those are all good ones too Jenn.
And maybe I was hasty in listing the iPod. I have also been reminded that it comes in handy for dispelling the boredom of the stair-climber.