We're So Spoiled

Originally posted 1/26/09 And we're still spoiled...
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I was doing laundry the other night. Alex had an entire drawer full of socks but none of the ones that he REALLY likes so I had promised to do a load of socks so that he'd have some of the right kind for the next morning. (sidebar - God, I'm whipped) So...I only remember this at something like 10 at night so I go through the house collecting all the socks and underwear and white t-shirts I can find and go throw them in the washer. No big thing; the washer takes something like a half hour or so to finish it's cycle and I'll still be up to switch the laundry to the dryer. So, dryer time comes and it's now nearly 11 at night and my washer/dryer is in my uninsulated garage. GADS!! It was cold out there!! And it's not like a typical load of laundry that has pants and shirts wrapping thier arms and legs around each other so that you can grab a handful of whatever and pull out a third of the load all at once. Oh, no, this is mainly socks. You know how it goes...you grab a handful, which really only amounts to about 4 socks if you're lucky, and then while trying to transfer it to the dryer, one will fall out of your little pile and land in the lint and crap that gathers on the floor in front of the machines.

Anyway, I'm standing there in the cold, throwing socks 2 at a time into the dryer and thinking to myself that it's just plain f-ing cold in there and that makes me think of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I know, "Where the hell is she going with this???" is what you're asking. It made me think of one of her books where she was talking about doing wash and Ma has put it out on the line to dry but it's so damn cold outside that the clothes all freeze and they have to bring in the frozen shirts and stuff and dry them by the fire. That sucks. Plus, if you know it's damn cold out, why are you putting the stuff out there on the line in the first place??? Duh? Do they not teach you that in pioneer school?

I digress...so, it gets me thinking about how spoiled we really are. Really, how long have we been living with microwaves? 20 years or so? That's really not that long. Can you imagine NOT having one, though? Answering machine? Cell phone? Email? Cable? VCR? Crap, vcr's are so "old" that they're almost obsolete now and I don't think I got my first one until something like '91! We are spoiled. My kids freak if I don't let them watch tv or play video games for a whole 4 hour stretch. "I'm so bored..." they whine. We're spoiled.

Imagine going on vacation to find that there was no blowdryer in the room, or, even worse, no little shampoos! Gasp!! We're spoiled. Imagine not turning on the computer everyday. Imagine only watching network tv for a whole week. Imagine cartoons only being on until 9 am on weekdays and 11 am on Saturday (don't even get me started on Sunday morning). Imagine having to watch re-runs of Star Trek, Adam 12, Emergency, Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch as your only after school entertainment...EVERYDAY. Imagine making dinner from scratch. Imagine no Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. Imagine having the only cool place to shop be The Squire Shop conveniently located in your local Fred Meyer store. Imagine spending your summer picking berries because that was the only job really out there and you didn't think twice about it because everyone did it? We're spoiled.

My garage isn't that cold. I have a dryer. I have the option of turning my thermostat up when I'm cold. I have lots of shoes. I have an automatic drip coffee maker. I have a toaster oven AND a regular oven AND a microwave oven. My car is paid for. I have a car. I don't stand in line to buy bread or produce. I have a great pediatrician. I can choose between at least 5 different stores to do my grocery shopping at and when I get there I'll have at least 5 different kinds of apples to choose from. I don't have to butcher my own meat. The government doesn't tell me what occupation I must have.

I'm spoiled. And so are you.