About a week ago I bought a new toothbrush. My choice wasn't very scientific--I bought a green one because green is my favorite color, and the particular green toothbrush I ended up with was on sale, so into my cart it went.
I'm also in the throes of writing another book. My new book, due out next January, will be called What the Amish Can Teach Us About the Simple Life, and it's a practical guide chock full of homespun hints and lots of usable ideas for being more self-sufficient, even if you live in town, which 80% of North Americans now do. Did you know that most of us can keep at least a few chickens in our backyard? And in major cities like San Francisco and Chicago, it's even legal to keep a couple of milk goats. Who knew.
This week I've been working on the chapter dealing with technology, and I must admit that, being something of a Luddite, I was enjoying this chapter very much as I dispensed great ideas for lessening our use of and dependence on electronic gadgets. Obviously I'm not averse to technology like a true Luddite, but I've always been wary of getting caught up in the virtual world more than is healthy for me. Writing this entire book on simple, low-on-the-hog living has got me pretty smug, I'll admit it...
Now back to my toothbrush. All week long I've been using my new toothbrush, and it's sure been nice to have nice new bristles. Well, this morning I was brushing my teeth while contemplating my don't-use-so-much-technology-in-your-daily-life chapter. All of a sudden, my toothbrush started vibrating. Yikes! I jumped a country mile from the surprise of it all and then scrambled to find my glasses and get them on so I could see clearly what on earth was going on. Why was my toothbrush vibrating? And more to the point, how could I get it to stop?
You guessed it--my new toothbrush is battery powered. BATTERY POWERED! I had no idea. Good heavens, what will they think of next? Anyway, I figured out how to turn it off and, shaken though I was, I managed to finish my morning ablutions and get to work dressed and in my right mind. But I learned a powerful lesson this morning: before buying something, read the label carefully and make sure it's really what you're after.