Buy, buy, buy!!!

Today there's a one-day discount on the latest gadget from Samsung: Galaxy Note II. The retail handphone shop that is having this promotion cut the price tag for about US$ 100 from it's regular price (around US$ 800). When I saw the ad on internet this morning, I found myself seduced by all the positive reviews and (of course) the discount. I spent half a day researching on finding out how cool the gadget is, and almost went straight to the shop before stock runs out as I know the people of this country won't let this kind of opportunity slips away.

But I didn't go.

The saner part of me finally kicked in. Why would I need a new handphone? I already have 3 handphones: 2 Blackberries & a very simple yet robust & effective Nokia which is cheaper than my pants. As of now, I only use 1 of those gadgets. Some people think they need 1 handphone for each hand they have, or even for each finger attached to their bodies. Not me, though.

I mean, no matter how hard we resist, consumerism is consuming us Indonesians more and more, and we the proud residents of Makassar are not to be excluded. We gauge ourselves with what we have; luxury house, shiny cars, cool gadgets, latest clothes; no longer by who we truly are: homo sapiens, The Thinking Beast.

For you who are not Indonesian resident, come see the modernization ripped our logic apart: people struggle in the streets as traffic jam gets worse just to find a comfortable place to eat and talk. Why is this eating and talking not comfort in our own place?

Maybe this rambling is just a rambling and benefit nobody in neither way. But maybe it triggers something in your head as it triggered mine and save me from spending 3 months salary for something I absolutely don't need. Money needed more and more everyday, but paradoxically, it's real value actually plummets constantly thanks to inflation.

I don't know; maybe I can say this because I don't earn much now. Maybe when someday I make stupidly large amount of cash, I will lose this insight and buy whatever stuff my gut tells me. If that's the case, I'll ask God the Richest of All: thank you, Sir, you can keep the all bling, but please let me keep my thrift. 

Makassar, 13 Oktober 2012