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Reflections at the end of the (stainless steel) gilded age |
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| By Steve Balogh in Conservation, Entertainment, Simple Living | January 17, 2009 | ||
Since the nation has entered the recession to end all recessions, it’s time to do a little self-reflection on what we’ve been spending our money on over the past decade… Joel Stein of the L.A. Times has come out with his list of the “relics of the good old days“. I heard about this on a radio program (I won’t say which one) and had to look it up. Some of the best and snarkiest commentary on our society…
In the clear recessionary morning, all that stuff we’ve been binge buying suddenly looks gaudy and ridiculous. It’s been a 25-year blur of fluorescent Frankie Sez shirts, logo handbags, Hummers and ring tones. We need to have one giant national garage sale and invite the world.
If there are pictures of you with any of the things listed below on Facebook, immediately remove them. Replace them with one of those stately, unsmiling group portraits our grandparents and great-grandparents took that made us feel like we came from important stock. You don’t want your descendants to lose all hope when they realize that Great-Grandpa Jaden was flashing fake gang signs at Treasure Island while downing a Grey Goose and Red Bull before his “American Idol” audition.
Tasting menus: The idea that an appetizer, entree and dessert wasn’t enough — that you had to taste everything — was a pretty clear sign we were on our way toward being a fat, indebted nation. If Morgan Spurlock had tried to follow up “Super Size Me” with a movie in which he had to go 30 days eating only tasting menus — and accept the wine pairings if they were offered — he would have died by Week 2. I went with four people to Per Se in New York, and two of them barfed as soon as we got home. To be fair, it was the most delicious barf they’d ever had.
Stainless steel: Every appliance we touched had to be covered in stainless steel, as if we were low-rent King Midases. How the lamest of metals became the way to show off your wealth is going to confuse the hell out of archaeologists. “No, they actually had gold and silver. And plastics of many colors. They were just easily distracted by cheap, shiny things.” Thank God the recession came, because we were about two years from having to sit on cold stainless steel toilet seats.
This column got me thinking, “what would I look back upon and think, oh God, how did I waste my money on that?” You know what? It was actually a little hard to come up with a list. I guess that is a good thing. But here goes. I expect your list in the comments, I don’t want to be the only one confessing.
- Computer/Gadgets. My biggest weakness. Some day I’ll be cursing the cold, wondering why I spent money on iPhones, laptops, and palm pilots instead of putting in that wood stove I keep talking about.
- Dinners out. Our gastronomical weakness. I have to admit we were “stocking up” on good dining experiences prior to the arrival of our lovely daughter. But $9 for a glass of wine or booze? Yikes.
- Kitchen crap. I don’t mean the good stuff or the essentials. We’ve got a closet full of miscellaneous equipment, pans, etc. that rarely sees the light of day. A pan for poaching eggs? Tartlet pans? A George Foreman grill? Sheesh.
- Vice. Nights out on the town in New York cost us a bundle, and made buying a beer in Syracuse seem ultra cheap… Wait, am I feeling guilty for having a good time when I was young?  Scratch this one off the list! I do admit, the cigarettes in my younger years where a big waste of moola.
Hmmm… I am straining to think of other examples (though I am sure there’s a few). I am happy to say that I don’t own stainless steel appliances, I’ve shunned bottled water, and I’ve never bought a pair of designer jeans or a “ringtone”. I’m sure the rest will come to me, when I’m older, and broker, and wondering where the heck my money went.
Alright, your turn to come clean. What are your reflections on the “stainless steel” age?
Mama Taney said,
I’m happy to say that trying to come up with a list here is kinda difficult as well. But here are some: 1)Having bought so many movies (dvd & vhs) – we have nearly a bookcase full of dvds and several old milk crates stashed in a closet of vhs movies & we don’t even have a vcr hooked up anymore! ~ cd’s come very close behind this! 2)Eating out and, especially, frequenting fast-food places too much. We wouldn’t go to a lot of restaraunts because we knew their food was cheap crap, so instead we’d hit up the drive-thru. Ugh. 3)Younger days of spending too many hundreds of dollars at Victoria’s Secret to make sure my undergarments matched and weren’t worn repeatedly too often. 4)Actually trying to start my dishware collection at Pier One Imports and paying (the now cheap price of) at least $7 per bowl. 5) Time and money spent planting flowers instead of planting food. And the $20 or $30 I spent buying apples to cook and “scent my house” before I remembered I had TWO apple trees in my backyard that were full of ripe apples! 6) And finally, too much money spent on green cleaning materials and other eco-friendly “must-haves” before I learned how cheap & effectively you could make your own stuff with just some vinegar, water, baking soda, and so on!!!
Susie said,
Well, I do have to say that I don’t mind the stainless steel part; I’d much rather have my kitchen done in stainless steel than plastic of any color (unless, of course, it was plastic that looked like stainless steel), and I think all-gold appliances would be a bit out of my price range. Do I think that stainless should be a show of wealth? Not a bit.. but it does make for clean design, which I think was more to the point. I’m still not sure how Stein thinks that plastics of many colors are better than stainless steel; plastic is usually the cheaper option.
I did spend a lot of money eating out, but I didn’t go to expensive restaurants where one overpays for their food that they’re overindulging in, and I think that was more to the point. Only once can I remember a meal that I thought, “I paid eight bucks for that??!” (It was a spring roll. Maybe two. And a tiny mound of carrot slaw. I never went back.)
I admit that I have succumbed time and again to the bottled water phenomenon, even drinking Vitamin Water (Dasani Kool-Aid). Now, my weakness is an almost daily can of Arizona Southern Style Sweet Tea, which I can just as easily make at home. All I can say to that is.. :/
Oh, and I love Bravo.
I don’t have money and I don’t buy into the lifestyles of many of their television subjects–indeed, I find them hilarious because they are so wrapped up in those lifestyles. Admittedly, though, I usually stick to Project Runway, Top Chef, and Flipping Out–I was never much on that Housewives series.
As far as the article, I think it went a little far in its snarkiness. Some of the ideas listed are clearly bad; some are iffy in their shamefulness, in my opinion.
Laura W. said,
I used to have a habit of finding something I liked (a purse, a shirt, a pair of shoes) and buying it in every available color. I now realize how much money I wasted buying multiples of what I already had.
lea said,
i almost bought alot of the stuff on the list…but i didnt have enuff money for it anyway.
accept for deslgner clothes. i went thru this phase where everything had to say “abercrombie” on it or else. i know, stupid, right? when i could have got the same cheap, tight crap at pennys for half the price.
David Wallace said,
Having many new things with a lifetime guarantee I enjoy not being as wasteful by having what I hope are longer lasting things for my life.
David said,
I have to admit that all these testimonies have floated across my mind but I have resisted most of the time. Mine indulges flaw is electronics…I have kept it under control but every time that new camera that comes out that cost 1/2 the price but does twice as much…seems like a bargain. We have sacrificed allot though, with my measly 50K salary there is a savings of 180K for that house we have been looking at. Right now is when the bargains are out there. I guess all those years not getting the 100 channels cable option and eating out only once of month helped. Discipline is the key and there will not be any regrets.
Steve said,
And in fifteen years another author will write this same article
following the Great Crisis of 2025. Just as we endured the 2008 Crisis,
The Dot Com Collapse of ’91-’93, The Savings and Loan Collapse
(which was equally devastating in housing) of the late ’80′s; the Energy
Crisis of the mid-1970′s; the Great Depression; The Panic of 1890…
and so on. There will be another series of business developments, another
period of Boom and the requisite Bust…and on we spin, consuming every
last drop of everything on this dear, sweet, tired Earth. LOVE HER, NOT
YOUR STUFF.