Throwaways...

While walking around morrisons this morning, i noticed something in passing, down the bread aisle of all places. A couple in their late 50's i'd guess, who behaved like the sort of couple you see in the movies, or read about in books, the type of people that are so in love that they even shared the pushing of the trolley.

That one action got me thinking about stuff. Again.

We seem to be living in what i'm calling 'The Throwaway Society', and by that, i mean that everything these days seems to be disposable once we get bored of it, or it no longer becomes useful to us, whether it be an old appliance, or a partner in a relationship. When your telly gets old, despite it still working the same, you just put it out on the pavement to be collected by the bin men, and get a new one. Why? If something works, why replace it with something newer? We're constantly being reminded through the medium of TV adverts of places like Comet and Currys, telling us that all their new appliances are cut in price once more and 'offer only until monday' to make us specifically go out and buy stuff, simply for the sake of buying it.

Even i've fallen into the trap at least once, or very nearly. See, i was walking around Tesco and saw the yellow price tag that denotes a cut price item, underneath a 26" HDTV. Now it wasnt the best telly in the world, but i thought 'wow! only £279?' and very nearly parted with a wad of cash for it, had i not thought about one little thing - i have a computer. With a 1440x900 widescreen monitor, thats higher res than that telly. I download all of my HD content, and don't have Sky Digital HD or Virgin Media HD to plug it into. But the impulse buy section of my brain almost completely took over when i saw the price. Once you think about it logically, you can put the expensive item down, and walk away.

However, i did end up buying an iPod Nano about 2 years ago as an impulse buy - i used it for a grand total of 2 weeks and now i hardly use it - almost a complete waste of £149. I actually prefer silence when i travel or walk anywhere, but i got sucked into buying one. It's very cool, but for me, totally pointless.

The same thing happens with modern relationships - i know, comparing a relationship to a Sony Bravia HD telly is a little...innovative, but go with me on this.

When people find things a bit tough, or they stop getting along for a week or two, the relationship just seems to trail off into oblivion and it ends, usually with both parties blaming each other for the break up. It started in the 80's, and its getting worse and worse. Marriage rates have fallen to their lowest point ever in recent years and although i for one don't really approve of the whole marriage thing, its an indication that more and more people are having increasingly disposable relationships, rather than being intelligent and just sticking with someone through the bad times. It's not going to be good 24 hours a day 7 days a week - that's just not possible, and for most men, would drive us up the fucking wall in no time.

Word of advice people - girls, don't expect guys to be wonderful all the time, we dont expect the same from you, in fact, we EXPECT grief, and when you're nice and happy and sociable all the time...we get freaked!

Guys - don't expect all girls to be just object for you to have sex with - actually take notice of what they have to say, even if you dont really want to listen to it and think it's boring shite - the mere act of listening endows you with qualities that girls generally look for and approve of.

And finally - if bad stuff happens - GET OVER IT! Don't just dump your partner - if its something you really want, make it work!

Oh, and don't get sucked into buying pointless crap from comet.

That is all...