Luxury Vs. Necessity: What You Want Isn't Always What You Need

Have you every looked around and thought about what you have? Everyday we depend on man-made objects and services that not too long ago were not available at our beck and call. Our necessities to survive consist of the three basics; food, water, and shelter. For hundreds of years, our ancestors hunted for food, drank water from rivers or streams, and found shelter in the nearest cave or under a well covered tree. Now, in the present time we have people that their daily job is farming or hunting in order for someone else to collect the food then someone else makes the food presentable then someone else packages it then someone else ships it and in turn all we have to do is walk into a grocery store, pick up what we want and purchase it. Same goes for water, we have man made machines that filter out the water to make it clean for drinking and it is either fed into our homes through pipelines or bottled and purchased at the same grocery store. As for shelter, construction workers and other such people build our homes so we can purchase them.

The three basics of life have been handed to us on a silver platter and there is more that we are used to and expecting of this country and its companies.

I work for a very large company that provides satellite television service. Television is a luxury item, it is not a necessity, but everyday I speak with people who make the common phrase; "I need my television" or "What are my kids going to do without any television"? This angers me to no extent. You do not need television. Televisions became commercially available in the late 1930's and if you think about it, that wasn't too long ago. Televisions have assisted us in learning, keeping us up to date with current events, as well as causing our population to depend on a talking picture tube box to baby-sit our children and teach them the morals and or not so moral lifestyle that they should or should not be living.

When a mother of three called in with an issue with her reception that required a technician to come out, she had ordered me to send one out now because she didn't know what her kids would do without it. Unfortunately the technician wasn't available for another four days. My initial thought was, it is spring, the weather is gorgeous, take your kids to the park, read them a book, take them to a museum, play a game with your children, talk to them and get to know them rather then depending on an item that you think takes your place or keeps them occupied in order to keep them out of your hair.

Television is a luxury item; you do not need it to survive. Television does not put food on your table, television does not hand you water, or supply you shelter. Television is a mere distraction from daily life and used as a means of entertainment.

Television isn't the only luxury we have. Electricity, gas, internet, even our automobiles are luxury items. We pay for these items because we want them, not because we need them. We want electricity and gas to heat our homes and help cook our food faster and power our stereos and lights and so on and so forth. We want our internet because we have been drawn into the entertaining and new technological advances. We want our automobiles so we can make it to our point of destination quicker than compared to walking. All of these are luxuries. And when we receive a bill in the mail for payment for these luxuries we find ourselves sometimes saying, "Well, I am not going to pay this". You do not pay for the luxury that you want, then the luxury will be taken away from you. Many people have said to me "Well, I need my television and you are going to give it to me". Simply put, no. You want your luxury you must pay for the use of it. Many people complain that if services are not working properly why they have to pay for it. If you think about it, you called the Gas Company, Television Company, cell phone Company, and electric company and so on, telling them that you wanted their product because you wanted to watch you favorite show or take a hot shower or talk to your friend a hundred miles away. You chose to call them and ask for their service; in return you should be responsible for paying for any work to be done to fix any type of malfunction or upgrade of service. Sure, they are supplying you with the service or the equipment but nothing is guaranteed to work forever, technology is man made, and anything man made does fail.

In conclusion, I believe that we all need to check our standpoints on life and our items that we really need to survive versus the items that we want to assist us to get through our hectic and stressful daily lives. And to be more considerate and understanding towards those people who are trying to assist you with the luxury services that you are wanting, because again, there is an extreme difference between luxury and necessity.