Doing Without

I'm discovering that the idea of doing without is on its way out the door. Its obsolescence is drawing near. People don't believe in doing without. We want what we want, and what we want is what we'll get. Daily I listen to people whine about how little money they have while they Facebook on their phone. Dude, ditch the data plan and save a couple hundred dollars a year...

Doing without tightens the belt on the 'It's all about me' gene. It makes life less comfortable. And believe me, if I didn't have to do without I probably wouldn't. I'm pointing the finger at myself first. You know... right after I point the finger at Data Plan Dude. Ahem.

When forced to it, however, there's still something fun about it. Doing without makes certain parts of life interesting. Take, for example, when your microwave tries to commit suicide by exploding. After you convince it not to set your kitchen on fire, you coax it out of the house and place it in a nice green container with the other suicidal white appliances. And quickly run away.

A quick scan of the budget reveals no allocated funds in the 'Help! The microwave died!' envelope. (Ok, there's no such envelope, but how much more convenient would it have been if there was??)

The microwave is a relatively new invention. I remember when we first got ours. I was eight. We had melted cheese and salami buns for dinner. Believe me, for a family that relied on potatoes, green beans and meatballs for most meals, melted cheese and salami buns was a big deal. Gone were the days of melting butter in a pan or reheating leftovers in a frying pan.

Until the microwave breaks, however, and you're back to standing in the kitchen holding a Tupperware Rock'n'Serve container wondering whether the plastic would melt in the oven. (It would.) Or you've decided to whip up a batch of Toffee Bars which requires both melted butter and liquid honey. Suddenly the 5 minute prep takes two hours - slowly warming the honey and melting the butter in warm water baths. Then melting the partially congealed butter again while the honey continues to liquefy.

It's all good. I think Len has adjusted better than I have, since he's usually the first to reach for the frying pan to reheat food while I'm still standing in a daze wondering where I put the microwave. Adjusting to him reheating my delicious home made burgers in a frying pan? That may take longer.

Today we were discussing how to best utilize our tax rebate and the microwave wasn't even on the list. Clearly doing without isn't all that bad after all.