How do you not obsess when you scratch something you love?

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Snowy Owl
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07 Jun 2020, 6:09 am

Let's say you have some posession you really love like a car, a phone, a tv, or whatever, and you put a sratch in it.

Do you obsess about that? In my case I will obsess over any damage I do to me or my landlords property.

But I just put a scratch on my PC screen, which is a 0.3 inch scratch near the corner of a 27 inch 2 year old screen so I got relatively lucky. It was flawless until today. But I invested in it enough to keep this for 3 more years at least until something better comes along.

I can use it as a learning experience not to do the thing that damaged the screen (which I don't want to go into here) but a learning experience on its own doesn't allow me to move on quickly.

I allowed my phone screen to become wrecked but in my head it was ok because I had a nice big screen at home which I was taking good care of which is the one I enjoy and now I've damaged that one. (I estimated my phone screen is at least 10,000x more damaged though - by area)

I suppose if you have a car (which I don't) then you shouldn't care that much about scratches but I know some new car owners definitely do care.

Likewise if you put a scratch on your phone or TV, its like my example, its not worth you buying a new phone or TV, you just have to live with what you did, and I know a lot of people care about this stuff. Maybe for watch faces as well. How does that affect you?



CarlM
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07 Jun 2020, 6:52 am

It always effects me more than I would like. However, I am not one of those people who park their car alone so no one will ding it. Who are those people anyhoo :roll:.


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Jennifer Ivy May
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07 Jun 2020, 7:26 am

I think it is difficult not to get upset when damage has been done to something that you consider yours because we mostly have an inherent desire to look after what we have as best we can. We have pride in its perfection. If something does get damaged it is difficult to think "oh well....now it has a bit of character" Especially when it isn't an old bit of antique furniture but your nice expensive pristine technology that you cannot even stand too many finger prints on.



hurtloam
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07 Jun 2020, 9:25 am

Yeah, it bothers me. I scratched the top corner of this screen the week I bought this phone. You can't really see it unless you look right at it though. I was annoyed about it for a few days then forgot about it.



HeroOfHyrule
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07 Jun 2020, 1:48 pm

Getting dings and scratches on electronics always irks me because I'm paranoid about them breaking (electronics are expensive :( ), and things like game systems can be resold for a good amount later if they're in good condition. If it doesn't impede the objects ability to function the only thing I can really do is try to ignore it, if I don't want to bother with/I cannot fix it.



PhosphorusDecree
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07 Jun 2020, 2:10 pm

I always used to feel really guilty about it. Which isn't logical, as me slightly damaging my own posessions isn't hurting anyone. The thing is, I am very clumsy. So I think I got desensitized to the horror by sheer repetition over the years!


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shortfatbalduglyman
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07 Jun 2020, 2:18 pm

Diversion



VegetableMan
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07 Jun 2020, 2:21 pm

I used to be that way with my bicycles, especially when they were new. But crashes and mishaps occur, unfortunately. It's the dents that bothered me more.


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Snowy Owl
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07 Jun 2020, 5:26 pm

Some good input.
Diversion is a good idea. Then in time you accept it.



blech
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07 Jun 2020, 9:33 pm

I think people feel that way when they've spent WAY too much money on their stuff or otherwise place too much value on something that's ultimately replaceable.

None of my stuff are expensive and I don't really care how many scratches or dents my phone or my car has (hint: a lot).