Defining Value
I have an old Gucci wallet. I’d say it’s about eight or ten years old, and it looks like it’s brand new. It looks new because the quality of craftsmanship is superior, and it looks new because I use it infrequently. I don’t enjoy the wallet, it’s too small. I felt terrible about not enjoying the wallet, as it was not inexpensive.
Yesterday I was at Target with the kids and I saw a wallet that I loved. It was $15, and I wanted to own it, but I felt bad about buying it for myself because I have a perfectly good wallet. This wallet, this fifteen dollar Liberty wallet is covered in flowers. I want flowers on my wallet. I want plasticy coverings too. I want space. I wanted this wallet that I didn’t need, and that didn’t have the value of my Gucci wallet.
Jane perked right up and said, “Mom I love the green wallet.”
So now this belongs to Jane.
And this belongs to me.
Though my eleven year old daughter doesn’t understand or appreciate a Gucci wallet, neither do I.