88 | May 2012 | woman this month My grandmother’s silver makeup set, consisting of brush, comb and hand held mirror, sat on her dresser table at the end of the bed for decades. It was passed down to my mother and she passed it down to me. A few years back I sold it for a small fortune in a London estate sale. It seems my grand mother had great taste and, according to the auctioneer, the set was known as an heirloom-quality piece. Some of my father’s wind up mechanical toys sold at the same auction — early 40’s pieces of metal with complicated wind up mechanisms and cartoon quality paintwork, in the spotless condition in which my father kept everything. The agent called these toys “true quality antiques of a past generation.” But what about us? It would seem, for the most part, that anything these days that is over a year old is classed as “last generation” and disposed of. Laptops, mobile phones, iPods, iPhones, desk-top computers, even clothing. If it’s a year old it’s obsolete and everyone is clambering for the next edition. I am amazed at the furor caused each year when mobile phone companies or computer firms release their latest gadget. People queue for days, pre-sales are phenomenal and as soon as people power up the battery and switch them on, they are already discussing what features, apps and gadgets the next generation model might have. I have had the same, cheap mobile phone for six years. I only want it to save numbers, send some text messages, make a few calls. Yet all my friends have a closer relationship with their iPhones and Blackberries than with their partners. Recently, I was talking to a male friend who spoke of early retirement. Now there’s something you don’t hear much of any more. He spoke with sadness about not being WoMentality By Hard-headed Woman Out with the New I am single and have no children. But even if I did, what would I pass down to them in a disposable world? able to compete in a world where every student being pumped out of school is more techno-driven, more computer literate and more technologically advanced than him. This got me wondering: am I also disposable? Am I about to be superseded? The next generation, the younger, better looking model, the one with more gadgets, gizmos, firmer, tighter and with more star power. How can I compete with this? Well, I say don’t give up so easily. Call me stubborn, but like the saying goes, even in these technologydriven times: “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Sometimes the shabbiest books hold the key to knowledge and sometimes the prettiest books can be blank, the skinniest books filled with little and the chubbiest books in the library are most commonly encyclopedias. The point is, I am as a person, just like every book. Until you turn the pages and feel the thickness of my content, the quality of my pages and read the story of me, understand why I am different to all the other books, then you will never be able to tell if I am like all the others. I am unique and I am worth the read. In this fast paced, megabyte, nano-second download, next generation world, I may start to look a little shabby. A few more crows’ feet may appear around my eyes and gravity may not be as much a friend as it once was, but the essence of who I am and the content of my soul, remains intact. Stay true to yourselves girls and never ever relent to the new. After all, everyone still reads Shakespeare now don’t they!
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjk0MTkxMQ==