Is It Better To Have Lusted and Lost?
Good things come to those who wait, at least thats how the story goes. The fairy tale ending I’ve promised myself has slowly mutated into a clown straight out of a Stephen King nightmare. Most of us prefer to think of ourselves as somewhat abreast with the latest and greatest. For me however, sound decision and impulse have been mutually exclusive. If patience being a virtue is rated a solid 10, my rating would hover at best around a 5, and that’s being entirely generous. Impulse and patience are eternal foes, but which of the two are you guilty of?
In my case, the former has prevailed more often than I would like to admit. My purchase of a Macbook Pro a month before the release of the Sandy bridges version is a testament to that. Despite fair warning, I went ahead and swiped my credit card knowing my laptop would be obsolete within the month. Overcome with buyers remorse and past the return policy, I rationalized for my daily use, the power afforded by the previous version would be enough, ironically, it is more than adequate! So why did I still suffer from buyers remorse? What causes us humans to lust after the newest even though what we currently have suffices and in some instances exceeds?
In my case, it was financially driven. Why spend the same amount of money buying an older model when for a little more, I could get a freshly minted version? The tougher question to ask is who’s really to blame at the core of it all, is it the supplier or the consumer? The answer gets murky very quickly… where does one place the blame for an addiction, with the addict or the supplier?