Page 430 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing

Home air conditioning 55% Cable/satellite TV 23%

Microwave 45% High-speed Internet 34%

TV set 42% Flat-screen TV 10%

Home computer 49%

To illustrate how luxuries turn into necessities, and wants into needs, 3

let’s journey back to one of those primitive times: the 1970s. It was the
time for disco dancing and polyester pant suits, mood rings and pet

rocks, the Captain and Tennille. It’s the era when I grew up, when my

boyfriend and I wore matching plaid shirts. Yes, sir, the seventies

have a lot to answer for. But if we still lived like it was the 1970s, we

could save a lot of money.

Think about it:

One phone. For a whole household.

Back in the day, everybody got their phone service from one 4

company: AT&T. You didn’t even own the phone that connected you
to the rest of the world. You rented it. Long-distance calls were

shockingly expensive, which is why Grandpa is still a little terse when

you get him on the line—he’s remembering the time when every

minute represented money leaving his wallet. Those days are over, of

course. A federal judge ordered AT&T’s break up in 1984, so now
instead of getting phone service from a monopoly where customer