Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
If you use an @yahoo.com email or any related Yahoo services, they have blocked us also due to "user complaints"
-UE
"The high life" (or "the good life")
It appears that I don't like it.
Or more specifically, the U.S. American version of this which involves luxury digs with extra-large bedrooms and fireplaces, designer-brand shopping opportunities just around the corner, eating out as a significant part of my diet (and doing so at fancy restaurants more often than once every few blue moons), and expressing a sense of social superiority through ownership of large cars or SUVs.
It confuses me every time I look at a list of tourist attractions and see "shopping" and shopping malls listed among them. I guess people find browsing and acquiring new stuff fun? Not really my taste, I guess; I pretty much just beeline for the stores and the sections within those stores that have stuff I want. How do I know what I want? By deciding beforehand what I want. It's like, when I see all those cool gadgets at Brookstones, all that interesting clothing at Macy's, and all those cool devices in the Apple store, the most I can be convinced of is that "they are very interesting and may be vaguely useful to me", and I don't think I've ever entered a mall (or for that matter, any store) looking to just spend money for the hell of it. Ever. Is there something wrong with me?
And this is just one thing that bugs me. I care much more about easy access to a supermarket (and some relatively-not-as-unhealthy fast food places, such as Subway) than I do about having lots of great restaurants to choose from. Granted it also kinda bugs me that I feel bugged by restaurants charging over US$10 for an entree since I know that labor and raw materials and energy don't come from thin air and (even though the categorical imperative is a load of crap) I find myself wondering how these businesses would sustain themselves if not for people who are totally unlike me. And then instead I go off to regularly patronize the local Chinese fast food joint. I love getting to have small talk with the people there if they speak Cantonese. (Heck, not just that--I actually quite like patronizing unique local restaurants. Or, for that matter, local restaurants in general. I don't know when I developed this sort of small-town parochiality, but I definitely enjoy it.)
As for clothing, I'm really not fashion-conscious. And I don't really care. I will look at myself in the mirror to make sure I look presentable for the circumstance, but apart from simple clothing choices and a decent standard of grooming...ehh. When I pick my clothing, it's pretty much whatever I have and feel like wearing, weighted toward the circumstance and, sometimes, things that I haven't worn in a while. I have absolutely no preference for something labeled Polo over something labeled Class Club (or vice versa) based on these labels, and when shopping, it's pretty much about what works, seems to be decently-constructed, and can be acquired relatively cheaply. (Not to mention that I kinda hate some fashion trends, especially ones involving weirdly baggy clothing, for either gender. And yes, I know that NPR recently did a piece about the price of clothing, and how we're all wearing rags (in a way) these days, and how people have no sense for quality.)
Similarly, I don't particularly care about the brand of car I drive. I just want something that's dependable, reasonably comfortable, and fuel-efficient. And "fuel-efficient" kinda rules out a bunch of large loads of bollocks that I see too damn many of on the road.
It's like, in terms of Idolmaster characters, I'm a combination of Chihaya and Yayoi. I like a combination of the simple life and the inexpensive life. Remember how Chihaya lives in a studio (a.k.a. "efficiency" apartment) by herself, and at first has yet to even unbag the pots and pans (not to mention unbox several boxes of stuff)? Well, I'd unbag them since I prefer to do some cooking, and I'd unbox my crap, but I'm not one to decorate my pad with particularly ornate or stylish stuff. Decorations, to me, should be personally meaningful (which may sometimes lead to interesting mismatching) and preferably also useful; I don't do things like random scented candles I never use. (I actually really like those mini-fountain water-based things, but any time I want to buy one I find them to be both a waste of money and a waste of electricity to operate them.) And when I walk into the supermarket, my approach to buying stuff isn't "what do I want?" but rather "what categories of stuff do I want, and what's the cheapest (within reason) way I can get them?". Can't say I have Yayoi's skills at knowing how to pick out the best veggies (though I would like to learn them), but the thing about bargain-hunting is definitely something I prefer doing--it was an interesting realization once when I went grocery-shopping with a friend and he picked out exactly everything he wanted, price be damned, while I was busy looking at prices and picking out stuff on sale in the weekly deals.
See, I've been looking for housing lately, and there's (almost) NOTHING in the area where I want to live that's not "luxury". It's like everything prides itself on how close it is to shopping or the mall. Why can't I just get a humble abode somewhere, that's within easy transportation to my workplace (such as not getting clogged up by everyone else trying to go in the same damn direction, which is what would happen if I live in these upscale locations), that's got just basic features (albeit in great condition), and is relatively small and easy to manage and clean, for cheap? The only presentation thing I would think of is if I wanted to host several of my neighbors or other friends for a small gathering. Possibly overnight, depending on the activity (would be freakin' awesome to host a Mystery Hunt team at my own pad--in which case having more power outlets is far more important than Ethan Allen carpet).
Do I have kinda "luxury" desires on my mind? Maybe. Kinda. Yes, it might be nice to have a surround sound system that I can plug my computer into for great enjoyment of playing games and watching stuff. Though I can make do with a set of desktop speakers anyway. Apart from this, I guess I can do things like buy DRM-free games and box sets of my favorite anime and renewable energy purchases from my local electricity supplier (fuck the fact that fossil fuels are subsidized to hell and back and their pricing totally doesn't represent their true costs) and stuff, maybe contributions to my favorite charities/causes/campaigns, after I've covered necessities (or things that could be called such) such as food, supplies, and utilities. I mean, doesn't it make sense for me to live my life leanly and either save my excess money or invest it in causes or industries that I support (assuming I have any excess)? After all, "voting with one's dollars" is indeed very much a real thing.
Discuss.
Comments
All life is good, but the good life is bad if everyone's got it.
glennmagusharvey,
Or more specifically, the U.S. American version of this which involves luxury digs with extra-large bedrooms and fireplaces, designer-brand shopping opportunities just around the corner, eating out as a significant part of my diet (and doing so at fancy restaurants more often than once every few blue moons), and expressing a sense of social superiority through ownership of large cars or SUVs.
Yeah, I never understood that type of living either. Most of the stuff in the Life & Culture section of the Wall Street Journal just seems really excessive to me. People have different preferences I guess, but I feel like focusing on luxury stuff can make you kind of conceited.
Why can't I just get a humble abode somewhere, that's within easy transportation to my workplace, that's got just basic features (albeit in great condition), and is relatively small and easy to manage and clean, for cheap?
Well, I think those places do exist, though more so in certain areas where the cost of living is just low in general (e.g., smaller towns in the Midwest and South). As for why that is the case, I am not really sure. Maybe it is worth charging a premium for being close to transportation, not being super rundown, and being easy to clean since a lot of apartments lack those qualities.
I drive an SUV for the crash test performance >.>
Most SUV's these days are just boxier minivans anyway.
I wouldn't really know about that. All I know is that the one model I drive had the best performance in crash tests the year it was released.
Anyway, I'm kinda tempted to run through the whole post and figure out where my lifestyle falls on the scale.
@LouieW: I suspect part of the reason for all these "luxury" properties is that, especially in the wake of the real estate bubble bursting, some developers/investors feel that wealthier consumers will continue to be able to pay for real estate and that's why it's much better value to install granite countertops and bathtub whirlpools into everything remotely plausible and then sell it at a high price.
I am working poor, so I guess I'd like the high life, but in terms of practicalilty I'd like it didn't exist.
I guess the "good life" is just one person's (or one group's) opinion of what's good.
The good life kind of sounds high-maintenance. You'd have to worry about dry cleaning the fancy clothes, fixing the expensive car (and keeping it from getting stolen), and cleaning the mansion (among other things). You have to worry about maintaining a house, clothes, cars and other items if you're not rich, of course. But if you're rich, it seems like maintenance would be really expensive (possibly costing more than the item is worth).
But I'm lower middle class and I come from a very frugal family, so I might be biased.