Inspired by moseying around a music store while wifey had her guitar re-strung. I grew up poor and there was no disposable income to buy non-essentials; I vowed that when I was an adult I would buy the three things I wanted most:
A drumset. When I joined band in middle school my parents rented a basic snare drum for me, but that was it (even the rental strained the budget).
Looking around today I realized I could afford any set I wanted, but I’m not the least bit interested now.
A metal detector and rock polisher. I bought both a few years ago and haven’t even taken them out of the shipping packages!
How about you? What items did you lust after as a kid? Did you buy them for yourself when you were a grown-ass person?
I also had a coin collection when I was a kid, and was putting together a US type set. It was complete except for two expensive coins I could never quite save up for. When I was in my 30s, I ran across the thing when I was moving stuff around, and so I bought those last two coins.
I always said I would have lots of pets. Right now I’m in an apartment, and we are just allowed two (have two cats-- illegally had a dog and two cats for a while, but the landlord looked the other way because our dog was old), but during the time we were in a house, we had, at max, 7 cats, and at one point also 3 dogs. At the same time, we had at most 3 dogs and 5 cats, or 2 dogs and 6 cats. I have two tropical fish aquariums now as well.
The color TV my mother would never let us have was one of the first things I got, when I was first on my own, but my aunt and uncle had them, so it was anti-climactic.
A sparkly top/dress. I was fascinated by a glittery matching blouse and skirt set worn by a restaurant hostess when I was a kid. My mom told me when I grew up I could have something like that (but she certainly never offered to buy such for me). That box has been checked.
Another item of apparel was white go-go boots, but of course that fad was long gone by the time I was old enough to buy whatever footwear I wanted.
Pets are an interesting area. We had a bird, a dog and some fish when I was a kid because it was somehow considered ‘good for me,’ but my mother was never into it - she always considered them just something else she had to care for. I have always been very fond of animals and I’ve had pets of one kind or another ever since I was old enough to care for them myself - hamsters, birds, chinchillas, a frog, and dogs. My husband was denied pets of any kind as a child and he’s an enthusiastic aider and abetter in the pet department.
I always wanted a really ginormous saltwater aquarium, with not just colorful fish but also things like seahorses, starfish, anemones, etc. I had no idea of the expense and the amount of time involved with maintenance.
Adult me doesn’t really like chewing gum or soda. However, I do eat as much chocolate as I want (which isn’t as much as I thought I’d want) and I had a horse for several years.
I thought that it would be so cool to be able to mount a tiny camera in a remote control plane and fly it around our yard and get into dog fights and such.
Hello 1000 games that simulate this on your computer. I’ve played a few of them with varying interest. About once a year I’ll try one again.
Or a drone, but not sure if they will do well at my altitude.
I used to think I would have the hottest coolest car around. I liked muscle cars. (didn’t we all). Today, a new Honda Accord would leave most of those muscle cars in the dust.
Anyway, I still appreciate them. Oh, a Chevy SS with a 454. An Olds 442. Perhaps a Goat.
Meh. I could afford some nice old Iron if I wanted to. But it makes absolutely no sense.
Well… My Plow truck is a black short bed dodge RAM with a Hemi in it. Was the right truck to buy (used, it’s harder then hell to find a decent short bed without an extended cab). It is kinda fun to drive that around when I take the plow off of it.
Toys. Lots and lots of toys. Not grown up toys, like sailboats or sports cars, but actual kid toys. Action figures. Also, candy. Lots and lots of candy.
I never understood how the “grown up” thing worked. It never occurred to me that there would come a time when I wouldn’t want those things.
I used to lust after the stuff advertised in the back of Popular Science, Boy’s Life, etc. Never did buy the X-ray glasses, but I now have a Big Bang Carbide Cannon. Haul it out on holidays, the neighbor kids love it. Makes a he** of a noise.
Also have a Celestron 12" reflector telescope. The neighbor kids like that also.
When I was, like, 6, a friend of the family (or something) had a Cadillac convertible that had a PHONE in it. I decided I must have a convertible with a phone in it. I should add, I’m old…phones in cars were not common at all when I was little, not even in southern California.
I also was quite resentful when we didn’t use the pool because it was a lot of trouble and decided I must have a pool in the back yard.
Well. I have had two convertibles, both POS cars. (A Corvair and a Triumph Spitfire if you must know).
I do have a phone in my car now, in fact I have one on my bicycle. And everywhere!
My mother was right about the back yard pool. They are too much trouble and not big enough, unless you are a multimillionaire with room for an Olympic-sized pool.
No Cadillac, but I’m still open to some other kind of convertible, because while the two particular ones I owned were not much for driving, i.e., they broke down more than they ran, when they DID run, they were lots of fun.
A huge electric train set, throughout the house. I guess I might do something along those lines one day yet, but I’m not quite as much of a fan of model trains as I used to be. I got the same satisfaction of “miniature recreation of real things” in making 3D graphics.
Beyond that I didn’t have very vivid ideas of what adulthood might be able to provide. Lucky, actually, as now I don’t yearn for things I never wanted.
I appreciate this. So far, it’s been hard to find pleasure in possession beyond something of a fondness for things that I’ve had long enough that there’s a goodbye-loyal-old-friend feeling when it’s used up or worn out at last (which probably means that my brain wants more friends if it’s trying to treat possessions in that way).
