Buy Me!

Some weeks ago, I finally purchased the entire five seasons of Six Feet Under, all pirated of course. I am not about to fund the lifestyles of a bunch of snotty celebrities with my hard earned money, even if they are remarkably talented. It was something that I had been procrastinating on since I broke up with my last ex. That itself will be another story for some other time. Anyway, to my annoyance, I discovered the entire season three would not play on my desktop. And that lead me to fulfilled yet another long procrastinated purchase. I bought a brand new 21" Samsung TV and a DVD player.

I know it may seem overboard just so I can watch a bunch of pirated DVDs but that will be a discussion for another time. In any case, I spent about RM580 on those two items all in a single visit to the ever conveniently abundant Giant Hypermarkets. About a year back, just to make arranging music easier for my classes, I bought a 5GB Creative Zen Neeon MP3 player for about RM600+. The puny thing could be covered by one hand. It was a purchase that I would regret later when I found out that I have to connect the contraption to my PC everytime I need to make a playlist.

A few months ago I also bought a handmade statuette of Kuan Yin imported from China for RM408. And no, I didn't buy it because of its relative gay-ness, that's another tale for another entry. In any case, it doesn't serve much of a function other than its aesthetic visual value (a purchase which I did not regret). So what am I trying to relate here? At a price less the one MP3 player and I manage to get a TV and DVD player, which I could use for various forms of entertainment. Yet the all the blasted MP3 player could do is play music, well and occasionally function as a portable harddisk. And from what I gather, the scourge iPod cost twice that amount... AT LEAST.

As for the statuette, though pleasing to my eyes, does nothing but "stand" there. I think I can also make a reference to wingedman's complaint on the rather pricey Ikea Audrey Hepburn wall decoration which in the end Jay made for him totally free of charge and better looking too if I might add. Another friend of mine could blow RM500 within a day on trivial things like clothes (I could suffer repercussions from making this statement). I think we're all just a bunch of guillible twits when it comes to buying stuff. Which leads me think about how one gauges the value and worth of a purchase. It's kind of ridiculous sometimes to find that we are compelled to buy relatively useless and impractical items, yet wouldn't pay a single cent on things that we badly need. Right now, I am starting to doubt the wisdom of my purchase yesterday, especially since the at least 25-year-old still working TV sits now in the spare room, swathed in plastic covering like some murder victim (think Laura Palmer).