Skip to main content

Luxury


 Today’s word is luxury. From Meriam Webster:



 luxury, noun

1 : a condition of abundance or great ease and comfort: sumptuous environment lived in luxury

2 a : something adding to pleasure or comfort but not absolutely necessary

one of life's luxuries

b : an indulgence in something that provides pleasure, satisfaction, or ease

had the luxury of rejecting a handful of job offers

Let’s play a little game. What sorts of things do you consider to be luxuries? 

Now think about your childhood. What kinds of things did your parents consider to be luxuries? I think I grew up believing that luxury was synonymous with “that’s too expensive.” Some examples: shrimp cocktail, private school, souvenir programs at the circus, vacations to warm island locations, haircuts in salons, long distance telephone calls.

On the other hand, I did experience certain things that would be considered luxuries to other families: new school clothes, occasional meals in “sit down” restaurants, piano lessons, staying at home during summer vacation, regular medical care.

Sometimes luxury can mean a condition of great ease or comfort. Sometimes it just means all the things you can’t afford.

Our community has been strongly impacted by the attack on public service, science, and medical jobs. (As an aside, I don’t believe for one minute that public service, science, and medicine are luxuries or things we just can’t afford.) When significant chunks of people lose their jobs, it cannot help but change financial priorities.

What was was affordable may now be a luxury.

As we watch our national and local economy being destroyed from the top down, I think it’s important to consider all the things we have in Howard County that we care about. How many of them will quickly become luxuries - - things we just can’t afford? 

Some have to do with consumers goods and experiences, leisure time activities, educational choices. Others have to do with initiatives and causes we support that make Howard County a better place. All of these things depend on a large enough per centage of people having more than enough. I’m not talking about “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” I’m talking about enough to do a little extra, enough to donate to local causes, enough to share time and talents.

What are the things in Howard County that we will strive to preserve even as we see our own situations become more precarious? And how are we going to do that?


Village Green/Town² Comments

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Getting Fresh

One of my favorite days in the Spring comes when this year’s list of Farmer’s Markets is released. That happened this week. New this year are markets in Old Ellicott City and the “Merriweather Market” which, according to the address, will be located here . I mistakenly thought at first glance that it was in the new-construction part of the Merriweather District. I find the name confusing considering its actual location. I’m going to guess that this market is an initiative of the Howard Hughes Corporation because the name seems chosen more for branding purposes than anything else.  Alas, the market in Maple Lawn is gone. The thread on the markets on the County Executive’s FB page will provide you with quite the education in who actually runs the Farmers Markets vs what people often think is going on. Short answer: they are not  chosen nor run by the county. Each market is an independent entity, sometimes started by community volunteers, other times supported by local businesses...
1 comment
Read more

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...
1 comment
Read more

What Kids Are Thinking

  It’s a Monday in February, and if you guessed that a lot of Howard County students have the new cell phone policy on their minds, you’d be right. It will mean big changes and it will be stressful, no matter how much good we hope it will do in the long run. But on this particular Monday cell phones might not be top of mind, as amazing as that seems. Some kids will go to school wondering if they or family members will be seized by ICE. Some will fear that their parents’ employment will be purged by the ongoing rampage of Elon Musk and his cronies through Federal Government. Some fear heightened and renewed racism as programs that supprted Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are vilified and destroyed.  Some worry that it soon won’t be safe for them to use the bathroom in school anymore. It goes without saying that some kids fear going to school every day because of the prevalence of school shootings.  And look! Here’s something new to fear. That old hate group, Libs of TikTo...
1 comment
Read more