Commercial Lighting Tampa Florida

Why should I buy a light bulb that lasts 25 years? I'm 75 years old.

An entertaining spin on expensive LED light bulbs. Enjoy…

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I don't know the origin of the green bananas joke, but I heard Joan Rivers say it first, probably 35 years ago. More recently, I think it was repeated in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." The one liner goes like this. "I'm so old I don't even buy green bananas."

I was reminded of that old joke when a reader left me a voicemail complaining about my article on LED light bulbs getting cheaper and better. I said that most LEDs last about 23 years under normal usage of about three hours per day.

That prompted the reader who did not leave her name or number to leave this voicemail. "I've never seen anything written about these new LED bulbs that take into account people my age in their 70s. We don't want to spend $10 or $20 on a bulb or a set of bulbs that are going to last 25 years, longer than our lifetime. It's a waste of money. I've never seen anyone respond to that. They should then give senior citizens a discount of half price off. I don't want to buy a bulb and then have a bulb last 25 years. It's a ridiculous thing. So maybe you could do an article about that sometime. It's funny that no one ever mentions that. That's just my opinion. Thanks."

What an eye opener. I had never considered that once a person gets to be 70, 80, or 90 that they start choosing items that won't outlast them. Assuming that they still drive, why would anyone buy a newer car, for example? If a grandchild or great grandchild is getting married, does an older woman figure that a new dress is a waste of money because it will still be good when she dies?

The reader sheds a whole new light on why we give senior citizens a discount. It's because they could die before the item is used up. Maybe we should give accelerated discounts based on age. Buying a new car in your 70s? Here's a 70 percent discount. In your 90s? Here's a 90 percent discount.

Honestly, at the risk of being insensitive, it shocks me a little that a person in her 70s thinks that anything she doesn't use up by the end of her life it going to waste. And maybe it will if her heirs want to throw away a perfectly good light bulb.

Heir #1: "Don't throw away that Sylvania. It cost $10 in 2014."

Heir #2: "But it's only worth 10 cents now."

I realize that some seniors live on limited incomes where a $10 light bulb is an extravagance, even if it will pay for itself in electricity savings in less than two years.

Thank you, 70's reader, for enlightening me to what lies ahead in old age. For now, I'm still buying $10 lightbulbs. And green bananas.

REF: StarTribune

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