RetirementMan versus GadgetMan

My 34th birthday passed earlier this month, and to mark the occasion my boss sent me a gift certificate to ThinkGeek.com. I really enjoyed getting this gift because it gave me an opportunity to do something I almost never do: buy frivolous toys for myself.

I searched through the ThinkGeek catalog for a toy, but I found myself drawn toward the practical and the useful. Ultimately, I settled on this:



[click on the image to get one!]
Yes, I got a thermometer, but not just any thermometer; I got a transparent, window clinging digital thermometer! Practical, useful, but still frivolous in my mind because I can get temperature data online for free, and more expensive than a regular old outdoor thermometer that can do the same thing but that wouldn't look nearly as cool. Thus, this is something that I would not normally buy for myself, even though I would want to.

I then sent the following email to my boss:

Russ,

I may have failed at buying a frivolous toy. This is what I ordered:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/86ff/

It has practical use so I'm not sure if it counts as "frivolous." It is something I probably wouldn't buy for myself though, even though I want one, since the psychic pain of passing up all of the possible compounding returns on the money would be too great. I think that at least qualifies this as a toy. Am I over thinking this? :)

Thanks!

Russ sent an insightful response, one that makes me understand the inner tug-of-war I experience when confronted by toys:

Not at all. Inside each man is what I call "GadgetMan." GadgetMan is much indulged in some (my cousin), and can lead to late retirement if allowed to run amok. RetirementMan must do battle with GadgetMan if you are to enjoy a wealthy retirement. Often, RetirementMan can have a conversation with GadetMan and reason with GM that if RM is allowed to work hard now, GM will have even better satisfaction with future gadgets, affordable only if RM can do his job.

However, GadgetMan has very physical needs that MUST be satisfied occasionally, no matter how well he plays with RetirementMan. The gift was so your GadgetMan could rest easy for a while, and since the card cannot be liquidated to currency, RetirementMan has absolutely no say in how it gets spent.

Russ

It makes sense. I harbor opposing forces within me that bicker with each other over the importance of short term gratification versus long term goals. To enjoy inner peace, I must get them to work together, to make GadgetMan understand that RetirementMan can fund his wildest gadget desires, if only GadgetMan allows RetirementMan the time and resources to do his work. And RetirementMan must understand that eventually he will have to let GadgetMan play, that there must be an eventual "end game" of some sorts to his activities, lest RetirementMan's striving degenerate into a pursuit of capital only for the sake of capital and for no other desirable end.

And then, a quick follow up email arrived from Russ:

Besides--it's a tool, not a toy.

Russ

Brilliant!