Generational difference, or OCD?

Allow me to relate a story to you: so this year, thanks to the wondrous generosity of my company, I am pretty light on Christmas wishes. So I decided to be blunt as always with my parents, who seldom have the slightest clue as to what they should get me. So I decided to shoot it straight -- I just want a new desk chair. At the moment, my butt's receptacle is old and worn out. It was once a comfortable, well-crafted chair I'm sure, but it has got to be at least forty years old at this point. The leather has worn off the two corners at the front. One wheel falls of any time there isn't direct pressure on it, the leather on the seat is cracked and ripped, and a spring comes up through the hole, as the three separate snags on my pajama pants will attest to. Plus, it squeaks and squeals like an old jalopy any time I turn, recline, or even shift my weight.

So needless to say, while it had a long and fruitful career, it's time to retire this bad boy. I have my eyes on one of those sweet mesh-back dealies with the lumbar support and all that jazz. This is exactly what I told my folks. What precipitated from this description was a visit from my dad later that evening in which he tried to sell me on the idea of him fixing the wheels, having the chair reupholstered, and possibly replacing the springs.

So, this got me thinking: is this a generational difference? Are the prior generations more inclined to keep things in their possession and fix them up? Are we, as the new generation a product of our disposable culture? Are we more inclined to throw things out in favor of a new replacement, while prior generations had to get more use out of their stuff? Or is it just that my dad has a general inability to throw much of anything out? Not exactly a critique of my old man, but this is an honest-to-goodness question that has been plaguing the back of my mind for the last few months now.