Decision-making also requires practice. ~About my mother (1)~

#20241201-497

December 1, 2024 (Sun)
My mother says the refrigerator at her house is acting up she says.
She said the freezer is freezing over and getting frosty, so I took a look when I visited. They say it's better to pack a freezer tightly, but even so, it was stuffed. Because it was frozen in places, when I pulled to open it, there was a grating sound of ice being scraped.
It didn't close well.
The door gasket was warped.
When I looked at the instruction manual my mother brought out, it had already been 10 years since she bought it.
"I think it's fine to replace it. A new refrigerator would have better performance and lower power consumption, too."

That was the conversation we had during my last visit to her house.
Today, I am going with my mother to buy a refrigerator.
If my father were still alive, we would have gone to a large electronics store along the main road by car, but that's not possible now. I decided to look at a large store in Tokyo where it's easy for my mother to get to by train.
My own family also bought a new refrigerator the year before last, but we bought it through an online store. As long as the size, capacity, price, and color met our wishes, that was fine. It's a new, previous-model unit, and we haven't had any inconveniences so far.
Before I knew it, glass doors had become the mainstream. I was concerned that magnets wouldn't stick, but since I tend to stick receipts and elementary school handouts on it, I thought it might be better if they didn't stick so I could just give up on it. I stick things on it casually, but I didn't like the chaotic look of it.

Since my mother will be living alone, she said she wants to make it smaller than the current refrigerator she said.
I understand what my mother wants to say, but just because she's living alone, I don't think she'll suddenly start buying single carrots at the supermarket. I think she'll still end up buying a three-pack. Would she even buy half a head of cabbage? Thinking about it that way, I don't think it's necessarily good to make the capacity too small.
I don't think there's much difference in power consumption either, so I think it would be fine to make it just a little bit smaller.

When we stood in the refrigerator section, a clerk immediately approached us.
I said, "Please let us look for a bit," and had them step away first.
My mother charged into the forest of lined-up refrigerators, saying, "This one is big," and "I want a smaller one."
"The vegetable compartment is good as it is now. Oh, no, this is too small."
Peering into the vegetable compartment of a small refrigerator, my mother grumbled.
"I don't really like to eat frozen food, so the freezer can be small, but..." while saying that, she pursed her lips, saying, "I'd be in trouble if it were this small."
"I don't like it when it's too boxy and every side is too flat. I'd like something a little rounded. I wonder if white or cream color would be good."
She opened one refrigerator after another and spoke her mind.
"Oh, the price of this one isn't cute. Wait, why is this one so cheap?"
The clerk who had backed away gradually approached and began explaining the products.
"This is a domestic product, so it naturally costs more. This one is a floor model, so it's discounted."
I thought a refrigerator with a slightly smaller capacity and a shallower depth would be good. Not only would it not feel oppressive in the kitchen, but since my mother is shorter than me, she can't see or reach items on the top shelf if it's too deep. It's a new, previous-model unit, and the price is also lower.
"Isn't this one good?"
I listed the points I liked about it.
"Hmm..."
My mother tilted her head.
"Then, how about this one?"
The clerk took my mother in front of a domestic product that had just been released.
"This one would exceed my budget."
"What is your budget?"
Before I could stop her, my mother told the clerk her budget in response to their question.
"200,000 yen."

Mu-kun (my husband) and Noko (my daughter, 5th grade), who had followed me later, arrived at the electronics store. Mu-kun (my husband) and Noko
(my daughter, 5th grade) arrived at the electronics store.
"Mother, didn't you say you wanted a small one?"
My mother was standing in front of a new, previous-model refrigerator that was said to be one rank lower than the one before.
"I did say that, but when I saw a small one, I thought it was too small."
"Doesn't that one look pretty much the same as the one you're using now?"
I shrugged at Mu-kun's words.
"With this one, including the recycling fee, it's within your budget, and you'll get this many points."
The clerk quickly tapped on a calculator and showed it to my mother. I think my mother probably got tired
while looking at so many refrigerators lined up on the wide floor.
"Well, it's within the budget, so..."
Mu-kun tugged on my sleeve.
"No, isn't there something at a lower price that meets her requirements?" "Probably. I think she's tired of choosing and deciding
from among so many."
I tentatively recommended the previous product to my mother in a low voice.
"I think the refrigerator with the shallow depth that was in the other row would be easier to use, you know?"
"Hmm..."
My mother groaned, but I don't know what point she is hesitating about.
"It's fine, I'll take this one." It ended up being the refrigerator the clerk recommended that was right at the edge of her budget.

"If we had arrived earlier..."
Mu-kun doesn't seem convinced by my mother's decision.
I could have decided for her.
But it is my mother who will use this refrigerator. If she likes it, that's fine, but if she doesn't, my mother will have to face that refrigerator she doesn't like every day.
It's within my mother's budget.
It's best for my mother to decide for herself.
Although my mother decided and bought small things like clothes and accessories by herself, she had a tendency to rely on my father for things like home appliances and large purchases.
My father's judgment is correct.
There is no mistake in what my father says.
Relying on my father, my mother has lived almost three-quarters of her life.

For the time being, my mother will continue to live in the house where she lived with my father.
However, my mother is also elderly. Once the procedures for my father are finished and my mother's feelings have settled, we will have to think about her future living situation.
I want to respect my mother's wishes, but that is a bigger matter than a refrigerator.
Can my mother decide?.
How should I gather information about housing, and how should I get my mother to decide?
Decision-making is also a cumulative process.
I think that practice in making decisions is necessary in daily life.