New Isn’t Always Better

Bob’s favourite toy for many years was his ‘raggedy’ mouse. It was a battered old fabric animal with buttons for eyes and a string tail. He loved tugging and tearing at it, flinging and flipping it around the room so that he could chase after it. After a while it became a tattered rag, a shapeless shadow of its former self, but he didn’t care. Bob loved the thing. He could while away hours playing with it.

I tried replacing it a couple of times, swapping it for newer toys, but he didn’t take an interest in any of them. Instead he stalked the flat looking for his old mouse. Once I put it in the bin, but even then he sniffed it out.

I was genuinely worried that it might be harmful to him, that the old fabric might be infected. And I was sure that he should have something newer, shinier, more exciting. But I was totally missing the point.

I was seeing things from my perspective. To me his raggedy mouse was a sad, broken thing. Fit only for the dustbin. But Bob saw it completely differently. It was his toy. It made him happy. It provided him with stimulation, entertainment and escape. He didn’t need anything else. He kept it for years after that.

Everyone today is so obsessed with having the new version of everything. The latest version phone, laptop, video game, fashion item. But why? If they are doing their job, do we really need them? Is new necessarily better? If we stopped and thought about it, we’d probably be just as happy with what we already have.