Twice
a year, I wander around the house changing the time on some of
the clocks.
A
few of them adjust on their own, which I’m thankful for. A few
of them don’t, which is fine. And less than a few we don’t glance
at as often, which is why I usually end up with two or three AA
batteries along for the wander. Nothing like being far away from
the drawer where the battery stash normally resides, only to realize
that’s when you need one because a clock you never look at isn’t
working.
This
year, I began my walkabout and began wondering about how I happened
to have only a couple of AA batteries left in the package. Started
out as twenty. Felt like I just bought it. And ultimately a bit
of this and a bit of that led to it occurring to me that I never
seem to see the package half-full. Once in a great while, I do
have a new package. But most of the time it’s just about empty.
And it seems to stay that way for a while.
The
first theory that came to mind is fairly simple and direct. I
buy batteries when I need them. In fact, there are times when
I need them that I wait. Example of what I mean… I’ve stopped
playing video games because the controller needed new batteries.
That isn’t a great sacrifice, since I only play two or three times
a month. But expand that to include swapping them from another
television remote. Or spending an hour trying to find a different
flashlight that might still be working rather than just writing
“C batteries” on the shopping list. You get the idea, you make
it work and you don’t buy a new package of batteries.
This
delay means that when you do actually buy batteries, you go on
a spree of changing them in game controllers, remotes, clocks,
flashlights and more. It means that whenever a new package arrives
in the house, it’s immediately called upon to supply a dozen or
so needs. Thus, the result becomes that as soon as you buy batteries
you’re basically out again.
I
thought that was an interesting idea to bat about for a bit, until
I needed some orange juice this morning. Of course, the container
was almost empty. And that shifted things. Because we all put
back the almost empty container with barely anything there at
all.
I
had been thinking about batteries and wondering about how I move
them around, change what I do for that and other things, and generally
just forget to pick something up until I absolutely need it. Orange
juice though, that’s a different story. That’s being too lazy
to toss the bottle into the recycling, so maybe you can make it
look like there was something left.
I
think there are various reasons we don’t replace items in our
house. Convenience and cost are the likely top causes… with some
items requiring a special or unexpected trip in order to make
a purchase, or others that are simply too expensive at that moment.
At times, a pressing need may come into play, where not using
something for several weeks doesn’t create a rush to purchase
it.
Whatever
the reason, it strikes me as odd that there are different realities
for how we set the priority of replenishing things around the
house. And in the latest rush to make every trip to the store
one with purpose and need, those reasons become a bit more planned
and distinct.
I
had a few batteries left after changing the clocks this weekend.
So, I’m good and won’t be heading to the store. If you could help
a guy out though, pick up some orange juice for me if you get
a chance. Thanks.