First World Problems

[catherine]

It is interesting to see what some people think of as "serious problems".

Here's an example: A former colleague of mine posted this on FB today:

I'm having my first serious confrontation with supply chain issues. Our 11-year-old dishwasher has stopped working. Repair would cost $400. Getting a new one is difficult - the model we want is, as one store put it - "best case is mid to late February, and there's really no guarantee." The website won't even let you put in an order for it. Another big store said their delivery dates keep getting pushed back. Again, they wouldn't take an order, so I can't even get in line for one. I don't really want to buy a model that I don't want just because I can get it sooner.

#1 Is this really a "serious" issue?
#2 Is the thought of actually hand-washing dishes until she can get her preferred dishwasher that odious? She's retired and only she and her husband live in the house
#3 Does she HAVE to have exactly what she wants?
#4 Why is the thought of repair so out of the question? One of the comments she got on this post was from someone who said that she'd make a repairman very happy, and she'd get to keep her dishwasher in service much quicker.

If this were me, and I really liked the model I chose, I'd hand wash until I could get the new one. Or I would get someone in to fix it. But I surely wouldn't lose sleep over it. My dishwasher broke 3 years ago and I still haven't gotten it fixed.

This thread isn't worth the time I'm spending on it, but that post just made me think about how people view their problems. As simple livers, do you more quickly identify first world problems than most other people?

[Yppej]

Yes, I think I identify first world problems quicker than others when it comes to lifestyle and expenditures.

When it comes to individual liberties some probably see me as a first world problem person. After all, what is a mask mandate compared to the Philippines where Duterte is having unvaccinated people who leave their houses arrested? (He previously dealt with drug abuse by having death squads kill addicts.) But I am concerned about the slippery slope of allowing healthocracies to run unchecked.

So for me it depends is it a matter of principle or one of convenience.

[herbgeek]

Yes, I consider it a first world problem when people complain about an issue when other alternatives are easily available without undue burden. My stove died this week (15 years old so getting a new controller board would be difficult/impossible to find), and didn't have an issue getting a replacement at Lowe's. They had several available within my (low) budget range and it should be here in a week or so. I'm not a fancy/picky buyer for most items, I actually don't want all the bells and whistles, because there is more to go wrong.

I know folks of course who want what they want when they want it, and will complain loudly if they aren't getting what they think they are entitled to. I usually do the eye roll to myself. ;)

[razz]

I am grateful I live in the First World but in recognizing that, I do so adjust to "it is what it is" without too much grumbling, most of the time anyway. It is the grumbling that makes it a First World problem.

[iris lilies]

Of course it’s a first world problem.


I haven’t even ordered our dishwasher for Hermann because the Lowe’s guy advised us to order one manufactured in the United States due to supply chain problems, but it’s not a Bosch. I think I want a Bosch. Because we are getting one with a cabinet panel, that is double first world problem because it is faaaaancy.


But Catherine I can bloody well wash dishes by hand while we wait for a dishwasher and it might be months. That is ok! But damn I have to get it ordered first.

[happystuff]

Yes, I consider it a first world problem when people complain about an issue when other alternatives are easily available without undue burden. My stove died this week (15 years old so getting a new controller board would be difficult/impossible to find), and didn't have an issue getting a replacement at Lowe's. They had several available within my (low) budget range and it should be here in a week or so. I'm not a fancy/picky buyer for most items, I actually don't want all the bells and whistles, because there is more to go wrong.

I know folks of course who want what they want when they want it, and will complain loudly if they aren't getting what they think they are entitled to. I usually do the eye roll to myself. ;)


I am grateful I live in the First World but in recognizing that, I do so adjust to "it is what it is" without too much grumbling, most of the time anyway. It is the grumbling that makes it a First World problem.

I agree! I can understand a bit of "frustrated grumbling" about something once... maybe twice... but continued whining and complaining usually ends up falling on deaf ears and just makes the individual come across as extremely self-centered/selfish. I think maybe most people feel so accustomed to living at a certain level and/or degree of comfort, that any deviation is taken as a personal affront to them.

[iris lilies]

I hand washed dishes when we spent time in our Hermann house and it made me wonder how much real time is saved by a dishwasher. I could probably take it or leave it. Some people are attached to the idea of sanitizing their dishes, that long hot wash provided by a dishwasher is important, but that is not important for me.

[Teacher Terry]

I would just order one that is in stock because I despise washing dishes. But it’s a trivial issue.

[Simplemind]

Our Bosch went belly up. They couldn't get the parts. We couldn't get a new one. We bought a much cheaper one that they had in stock. I hate it but it does get the dishes clean.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Not really, because as I don't like to be continually buying things I want quality, which is kind of to say, I want what I want. I think it keeps me from buying things, oh well there's nothing that meets my criteria anyway :P But I don't even have a dishwasher ...

But if I was in that situation, I would wash dishes by hands for a year or something rather than buy a model I'd be unhappy with. Although I'd probably just get it fixed!!!! I MEAN DUH, OBVIOUS ANSWER, OBVIOUS ANSWER *blinking lights*. Simple living is always opting for the get it fixed answer IMO (although with cars and stuff you eventually do reach the end of the line)

I do understand the wear and tear on people, it's been nearly 2 years of this, shortages of this, and then shortages of that. When it wasn't dishwashers it was toilet paper, or canned beans and dried grains, hand sanitizer, masks, covid tests, clothes stores closed (currently) because of a covid outbreaks etc.. It's not that I need that much, but it's the memory of how smooth it all seemed to run back in 2019. And things continue to degrade in quality too, that frustrates me more than anything maybe. And sometimes you meal plan, you make a grocery lists, you spend a bunch of time on this, and then hey 1/3 of the things aren't at the store, ok so much for those plans. I suspect all that is kind of just the world we live in now though. When the world is running down, you make the best of what's still around. Kinda.

[lmerullo]

If waiting / hand washing isn't acceptable, could the unit be repaired to be used until the desired new model arrives, and then sold to recoup some (if not all) of the cost? Option 3 ftw!

[gimmethesimplelife]

Interesting thread. Not too long ago we had a dishwasher installed at the house. I posted about this before. We have reached a compromise at Casa Rob - we only use it when we cook time consuming meals for family.

I don't even want to touch it as I understand that if it breaks down; good luck finding parts - labor we've got covered by handyman in.the neighborhood. Rob

[gimmethesimplelife]

And I didn't address the OP's question.

Although I believe much of what I have posted about the US remains true - one thing does not. I have come to understand from being low level management that my work.related issues have come from low self-,esteem
.
I'd bet this is a problem that goes way.beyond pertaining to the First World. Rob

[BikingLady]

I can relate to this topic on a few levels. First my one son has always said to me when I would complain about this that or something…like the cafe forgot my froth on top of my latte. Oh gosh he would say First World problem mom! Now I say that line first before complaining that I can not get this that or something, but sometimes I think it’s ok to complain if we are used to a level of service or goods.

[Rogar]

I thought it was just me. I still have paper work the original owner left for my dishwasher, purchased in 1978. I used to brag about mid-century quality but a couple of years ago it quit working. The big box stores have not offered any hope for a white dishwasher to match my other appliances, not even as a backorder. Plus there have been times when I've not wanted workmen in the house. I'll probably try again in the springtime and it hasn't been a big deal. Actually, in my youth dishwashing was sort of a shared family ritual.

Yes, we are spoiled, but whether it's a problem might vary depending on the person. I dry clothes on the line most of the year and could easily get along without a drier and went years without air conditioning in the house or car, but they are nice to have. Some of the photos I've seen of European appliances and kitchens shows much smaller sized appliances.

I actually think people's obsession with cell phones and Facebook is a problem, but that seems to be nearly global. They do have their place though.

[jp1]

Until two years ago when was the last time any of us with the money couldn’t get what we wanted? Probably during WWII.

I agree. A dishwasher is a silly hill to die on. But if your whole life has been ‘I want this. I will go buy it now’. And suddenly you can’t. That’s a big deal.

[ApatheticNoMore]

And WWII sacrifices were *for* something, this is just fate, a badly managed global virus, a mangled supply chain etc.. It's not for something, it doesn't win the war, or anything else. It just is.