Hi, I’m Kathryn. I’m not the “something old” referred to in the title, but I am a new columnist with Town & Country. I’m happy to be writing again (I wrote for a paper in Fort McMurray) but I’m sad about something else: The calculator I used since Grade 9 just died.
Sharp EL-531A was a trusted friend. She added certainty to my life, subtracted doubts from my mind, and multiplied my abilities. We divided hard tasks between us. She was a stickler for accuracy and I appreciated her for it. It was balancing the family budget that killed her.
Now I have a shiny new calculator. At least I waited until EL-531A was gone before I replaced her.
My husband wants to replace the Zenith TV I bought fifteen years ago before we were married. Whatever for? He already has a nice TV. This one is for the kids’ videos and they don’t care what it looks like.
Why are we so quick to replace perfectly good old stuff? Is the new stuff really that much better? I liked VHS. When I stopped a movie, it stayed right where I left off—and I didn’t have to worry about fingerprints and scratches. I also liked cassette tapes. Walkmans are much harder to send through the laundry than tiny MP3 players.
Technology advances so quickly we could buy some fancy new gizmo every day. That’s not good news for our budgets or for the environment.
My grandma used to say, “Fix it up or wear it out; make it do, or do without.” My grandma was smart.
We’ll get a new TV some day—when Zenith goes to where EL-531A has gone.
Sorry to hear about the passing of Zenith. Have you replaced him yet?
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