The New Status Symbols
Our clothes dryer died on Saturday, or at least that is when we noted the time of death. I think the actual event occurred on Friday, but at that time we thought giving my daughter an earful about leaving the dryer running for 5 hours would somehow solve the problem. When we finally decided to face the reality of the situation (it was tumbling clothes around, but not stopping and not drying), there were several loads of laundry awaiting our attention.
The break down of appliances never comes at a convenient time, and Saturday was no exception. My S.O. and I had a wedding to attend and no time to decide what to do. By Sunday, my S.O. decided (as any good red blooded American in this throw-away-society would) that repairing the thing would be more hassle than it was worth and we should just invest in a new dryer. He rationalized this further by reminding me that the dryer had been purchased used for $100 two years previously and "doesn't owe us a dime". Having just forked over every penny we had in our combined checking and savings to pay for next season's football tickets (we buy 3 or 4 games from a friend of ours), I wondered how this would be accomplished. Credit is a beautiful thing.
While doing some house work Sunday, waiting until a reasonable hour when the stores would be open, I thought about what kind of dryer we should buy. I thought of the fancy new models I had seen advertised, the ones that do just about everything except fold the clothes for you. It appeared that you would need to be a rocket scientist to figure out how to use one of these new machines. In fact, they almost look like rocket ships. My S.O. theorizes that they are made to look like washers and dryers found in Laundromats so people are fooled into thinking they are getting a better, more heavy duty machine. And just what is up with the colors? I should think most people are like us, their washer and dryer are hidden away in the basement or a closet of a room where no guests dare venture. Are the colors supposed to make the chore somehow more enjoyable? Maybe it's the new status symbol. No longer are we checking out our neighbors fancy new car, lawn mower or swimming pool. Nowadays we are opening up the laundry door to see what kind of space ship is hiding there.
"Did you see Susan's new washing machine? It was *gasp* white! How droll! Let's go over to Lucy's house. I hear she has a beautiful turquoise set."
When we were at the store waiting for our $300 base model to be delivered from the back storage area, my S.O. and I decided to take a peek at these new status symbols. Holy Cow! $1700 for a washer and dryer? We'd need a small loan to buy even one of these. Add the fancy, matching drawers underneath and you're talking 2 grand. To wash your clothes! They better be able to fold the clothes, and serve breakfast in bed, for that price. Steam setting? What for? Let's get real people, how many of us would do like that chick in the commercial and take the dress we've been running around in all day, sweating and God knows what all else, and steam it to "freshen it up" and take the wrinkles out.
"What's that? You want to take me out for dinner tonight? Just let me dewrinkle this same smelly dress and I'll be with you in a few minutes sweetheart."
I'd much prefer to start over thanks. Soap, shampoo, nice clean outfit, but perhaps that is outdated thinking. My children will vouch for my ice age knowledge of the world.
In the end, my S.O. and I brought home our dull, white dryer and stuck it in the basement. I figure if anyone really needs to decide how special I am by what is hiding in my basement, they can also check out the bug traps and wardrobe closet housing long forgotten prom dresses and Air Force issued outer wear.
