My husband loves gadgets, coffee machines, food processors the size of tractors, mini computers to put on your bike handlebars so you know what your heart rate was when you rode up the big hill and the weather station so you don’t have to go outside to see if it’s raining. He’s still lusting after an inclinometer so he’ll know just how far the car was leaning before it toppled over.
When I was a teenager there were gadgets every family either had or aspired to, Knitting machines, Teasmades, Radiograms, wall mounted electric can openers and Transistor Radios then later Tape Decks, Vertical Grills and tiny TVs. Probably those most recently relegated to the back of the cupboard would be Bread Makers, Foot Spas, Toasted Sandwich Makers and Soda Streams .
I have one gadget though which has been considered an absolute necessity for generations and although I still use mine many people I know have given them up as a complete waste of time and effort. My son has never seen the need for one. I failed in my duty to teach my daughter how to use one safely and she’s literally been scarred for life and I’m pretty sure my grandchildren will never want to acquire the skills to use one.
Mine isn’t one that will ever be decorated with Irises before making its way to an Antique Shoppe to be sold as a trendy door stop. My latest in a line of many has a dial, a little flip lid over the filling hole and a water window, it spits out steam. It’s my iron and I can’t give it up!
Musings of a Retiring Person 