Should I own a car?
Thinking about my stupid error in acquiring 100 pounds of printer paper.

First impulse: If I owned a car, this type of problem wouldn't have occurred. I could just drive down to the Office Supply Store and get the right combination of high-quality Office Supply Stuff.

That's how it actually worked back in the '70s when I drove a car daily. In Enid I would have gone to Vaters Office Supplies, and Judy would have located the right paper and file folders and other stuff. (Of course I wouldn't have been looking for CDs in 1975; maybe mimeograph spirits.) The transaction would have been pleasant (especially Judy), and I would have driven the stuff back home and used it.

Unfortunately the example doesn't apply to modern times. Spokane doesn't have an equivalent of Vaters. I doubt that any city does now.

I could theoretically buy all of those things at WalMart, which is within my usual walking distance. So now the need for a car goes away.

But I know from experience that WalMart never has all of those things at once, and often has none of them. Finding any specific item in WalMart is a gamble with poor odds. So now the need for a car returns, but this version of the errand might well take all day.

Online buying has the same certainty and quickness as Vaters. When I look in LDProducts, I know they will have everything I need, the items will be good, and the shipping will be fast.

But online buying doesn't have Judy. It doesn't have a clerk who can say "Are you sure that's what you really want, hon?"

Summing up: If Vaters and Judy still existed, a car would be worth owning, at least for these twice-a-year episodes. Vaters and Judy do not exist, so it's a moot point.

[For clarity: I hope the actual Judy is still alive, but Judy-as-icon-of-store-clerks is definitely gone.]


= = = = =

Later and better thought. This isn't about cars at all. This is about Old Economy vs New Economy, Ford Economy vs Goldman Economy. I already covered the point much more effectively in this tribute to the C.R. Anthony department store. Anthony's was a place where a working-class family could count on finding decent AMERICAN-MADE stuff at an affordable price. The price was somewhat higher than WalMart's price, because the working-class family HAD MORE FUCKING MONEY in the '70s. And they HAD MORE FUCKING MONEY because America MADE THINGS.

This connection should have triggered immediately in my mind because C.R. Anthony was RIGHT FUCKING NEXT DOOR to Vaters Office Supply. They were in the SAME FUCKING BUILDING on the downtown Square.

I'm retarded and cranky this week from bad sleep. For no apparent reason I've dropped into a pattern of broken sleep: 4 hours at night, 2 in morning, 2 in afternoon. It adds up properly, but it leaves me semi-functional all the time. (My optimum is 6 at night, 1.5 in afternoon.)

Labels: Natural law = Sharia law, Old Economy Steve, TMI

  ¶ 12:50 AM