Charlotte Latvala: Spending habits offer limited control on life

I placed my glasses gingerly on the nightstand, careful not to bend the arms.

As always. Well, not since always. Since the right arm broke well over a year ago, when the little hinge that holds it in place snapped in half.

Since that cursed day, I have kept up a careful regime of super-gluing the arm back in place. The fix lasts a few months, eventually fails, and I repeat the process.

Is this ideal? Not really. I can’t fold my glasses to put them in a case, or slide them into my purse, or really keep them anywhere but on my head or lying on a flat surface. They are delicate, they are a liability, they are a thing to fret over.

Is it logical? Um, no. I could have gotten a new pair at any time. But I delayed, and delayed some more, and eventually my prescription expired. And then I had to make time in my schedule to go to the eye doctor.

Which was not an insurmountable problem. But still, I put it off. I walked around for over a year with ridiculous-looking glued-together eyeglasses.

I can’t afford a new pair right now, I told myself. And besides, these ones are fine! (Not to boast, but I was becoming proud of my ability to MacGyver them together.)

And yes, glasses are expensive. (Especially when you wear Coke-bottle bifocals and have astigmatism and are self-employed and never spring for the vision coverage.)

However, I’d eagerly plop down the same amount of money for a concert or Broadway show I really wanted to see. If my college kid needed a train ticket or grocery money or contact lenses (which she just did, all three!) I wouldn’t hesitate to pull out the old credit card.

I suspect I’m not alone in being completely stubborn over dumb things involving money. Why do we pick one thing to hold fast to? To refuse to budge on?

I never used to allow my children to order soda in a restaurant (what a waste of $3!) but would gladly tell the waiter to bring on the dessert menus.

When I drive to Ohio to see the college girl, I feel an inordinate sense of triumph when I fill up the car and save a few dimes on gas. (I’ve beaten the system!)

I’m still using Christmas stamps from two years ago on the occasional piece of snail mail because I refuse to buy seasonally appropriate ones. (Who would?)

There’s probably much to unpack in everyone’s spending and lifestyle habits, but I think maybe, just maybe, keeping control over the small things gives us the illusion we have some control over the big things. Which of course we don’t. But it might explain why, when I pick up my new glasses this week, I’m going to keep the broken pair carefully preserved in my nightstand drawer.

I’m still proud of those broken glasses.

Charlotte is a columnist for The Times. You can reach her at charlottelatvala@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Latvala: Spending habits offer limited control on life