Does anyone else get emotionally attached to their WiFi router? (Need Advice)

[Shodburrito]

Hey everyone, i know this might sound a bit odd but i've been struggeling with this and need to know if anyone else experiences something similar.

I recently had to replace my old Netgear N600 router after 6 years (RIP little buddy, 2018-2024) and ive been feeling genuinly sad about it. Like, not just annoyed about haviing to set up a new one, but actually emotionaly affected. I kept the old one in my bottom desk drawer, wrapped in its orignal box with all those little twist ties I saved, becuase throwing it away felt wrong somehow.

The thing is, this router got me thru some really tough times. All those 3AM anxiety scrolling sesions during my breakup, those late-night video calls with my ex Sarah when she moved to Seatle for that, streaming all 8 seasons of Game of Thrones twice when i was too depressed to get outta bed. It was always just... there, u know? That steady blue light in the corner of my living room, 

My old one had all these little scraches from when I used 2 move it around the apartmant looking for better signal, and that wierd coffee stain from when I spilled trying 2 reset it at 2AM. I even used 2 say goodnight to it sometimes (ok, maybe thats the weird part - but in my defense, I lived mostly alone, only with my mom and dad during Covid and it was litterally my most reliable companon).

Please tell me im not the only one who feels this way about seemingly random things. Do y'all get emotionally attached to random objects lol?

Edited Friday at 02:02 AM by Shodburrito

[Paradoxed]

It's probably normal to a degree but past that is unhealthy. Certain items I have a harder time getting rid of.

I remember a woman who was love with and wanted to fuck the Eiffel tower. Objectophilia. I think they ended up getting married.

[Michael569]

Sounds like its not the router per se but the memories attached to it that you're afraid to let go off?

I've experienced something similar in the past, its normal.

You can always keep it at home for some time, then (with dignity) when its time to let it go, just do it and allow yourself to process the transition of leaving behind those old memories 

[Basman]

Its normal to keep objects of sentimental worth. Just ask your parents if they still have your baby clothes or shoes.

[Davino]

It happened to me when I changed the fridge after a decade grabbing food from it.

But after a month you don't even think about it.

[JosephKnecht]

9 hours ago, Shodburrito said:

Please tell me im not the only one who feels this way about seemingly random things. Do y'all get emotionally attached to random objects lol?

You won't believe this, but I have an emotional attachment to this portrait from Vasily Perov.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vasily_Perov_-_Портрет_Ф.М.Достоевского_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg 

Now, you may ask why such a random attachment. Is it because a lone guy is sitting in the darkness? Is it the look of Dostoevsky looking into the abyss? No and no.

I am attached to this photo because Vasily only painted 9 fingers of the guy. I am wondering where the last finger went. The One must be hiding behind the others, but why?

I guess I am attached to the One that you can't see.  

 

[Ulax]

Yeah I get that with things too.

Moreso as an adult. I think it’s sort of grounding to have random things that travel with you through time. 

[Inliytened1]

@Shodburrito i found out how attached i was to my blue tooth ear buds.  I was so happy with how long my current pair had survived....and they worked great with such a long battery  life...so the other day when I left them in my pants pockets for just an hour, my gf threw the pants in the wash.   When I realized what had happened my gf said don't worry you can use mine from now on.  It wasn't the point that I had another pair.  The pain of losing this particular pair really stung.  It was like a part of me had died   I'm still grieving my ear buds..

 

Edited Friday at 11:14 PM by Inliytened1

[Hojo]

My shoes. They will be torn and tattered and it makes me like them more i keep them. Probably for the same reasons but also they get more comfortable the more broken they are.

Edited Friday at 08:01 PM by Hojo

[Aaron p]

Tell my WiFi love her

Edited Friday at 08:43 PM by Aaron p

[LastThursday]

@Shodburrito I don't know if there's a difference between emotional attachment (wedding ring), nostalgic attachment (an old love letter) or anthropomorphic attachment (teddy bear). Sounds like you're suffering from the last type, maybe?

I had a nostalgic attachment to a calculator my parents bought me for my birthday when I was quite young, maybe nine or ten. I gave the thing away to my girlfriend at 15 (my very nerdy way of showing my love). Since then in the intervening decades I would occasionally think about it. My nostalgia finally got the better of me recently and I tried to find the calcuator online, but I had no memory of the name or make, just a vivid visual memory. I must have scoured every calculator ever made from the early 80s. Then bingo! But nobody was selling it anywhere. I waited another year, and as if by magic it came up on ebay. Holding it again in my hands gave me an odd feeling, which I can't describe. I nowhave it next to my workspace and look at the time on it, yes, it was dual function with a digital clock. Nerd out...

[hyruga]

Just change your router when it spoils. You are thinking in lack.

[Carl-Richard]

When I bought my new phone last Christmas, I gave my old phone essentially the type of attention and respect that you would give at a funeral, before I slowly laid it down in my bedroom drawer and pushed the drawer shut. So no, you're not the only one  You develop emotional attachments to anything you assign emotional significance to. It doesn't matter if it's a piece of lint in your room or a warm fleshy human being.

Edited Saturday at 12:12 AM by Carl-Richard

[Basman]

I've always been averse to getting attached to inanimate objects for some reason. It feels mentally impure in a sense. I remember getting yelled at for throwing away postcards I received once.