You don’t need to be a doom-and-gloomer to believe that consumers are being sold a false bill of goods. You just need to be a thoughtful observer and care about health and fitness.

Which is why a recently debuted television commercial for the 2025 Hyundai Tucson got a rise out of me. Not the type where I get off the recliner, go to the local dealer, and purchase a vehicle, though.

One where I get off the recliner, grab the laptop, and write an article.

As the commercial begins, you see a blue Tucson partially shaded by a single tree. In the background is a beach and the car owner, who’s sitting on a beach chair and facing away from the car and toward a picturesque lake and mountains.

The scene cuts to a shot of the owner from the front. He twists a bit, points a key fob toward the vehicle, and pushes a button.

The car moves in reverse until it’s fully shaded by the tree, and the owner settles back into the chair looking calm and content.

“Move your car without moving at all,” the narrator says and then gives his opinion about it in only four words. “How it should be.”

In only three, I say, “How dare he?”

Now maybe I’m just some deluded Jack LaLanne wannabe who’s getting far too bothered by a 15-second pause in television programming most people pay little attention to. But “should” in this context implies an agreed-upon correctness, so the subliminal message this commercial sends is that convenience is king.

As good as it gets. What each and everyone one of us should (there’s that word again) seek.

Meaning “how it should be” is for technology to provide more and more ways to keep you from doing anything you may find a bit inconvenient. Like standing up and walking 100 feet when you’re comfortably sitting and sipping.

Now do you understand why I pushed on the recliner’s footrest lever and made a beeline for the laptop when I saw the Hyundai Tucson commercial? It’s proof positive that consumers are being sold a false bill of goods, and the reason why today’s column refutes the opinion expressed in it.

May it help keep you from doing what our current dismal state of mental and physical health shows millions upon millions of Americans do — whether they’re fully aware of it or not.

Buy into too much of the unneeded convenience being sold today.

Now you need to read that last sentence carefully and note the “too” before the “much,” lest I come off as a bit of a lunatic. For broadly speaking, there’s no denying that convenience is good, but the good goes bad when greater convenience leads to lesser health.

And broadly speaking, these greater conveniences are, as previously mentioned, seemingly harmless, like being able to move your car without any more movement than a touch of a button. Especially in light of the fact that the lack of physical exertion any convenience creates can easily rectified by a longer or tougher workout in the gym later.

A hidden danger, however, is that over the course of time their addition can cause a subtraction to your mental health. It’s a loss that may not be so great that you seek a psychiatrist, just one that leaves you feeling stressed out or out of sorts.

Case in point: the smart phone.

But before I address how a smart phone can do this, I’ll digress and say that much of the information found on it comes with that same underlying message as the one in the aforementioned car commercial — which is dangerous enough. And that what’s even more potentially mentally injurious is the mesmerizing quality of the device itself.

Mesmerizing enough that many users find themselves spending more and more time on social media and less and less time doing — when it comes to your health — really important stuff. Like preparing healthy meals, reading good books, exercising, sleeping, and speaking to people face to face instead of texting them.

To avoid that fate is just one reason why I decided long ago not to purchase a smart phone. It’s a decision that creates inconvenience indeed, but a decision that’s right for me.

Which leads to the idea proposed in today’s article. That some inconvenience could be good for your health, especially your mental health.

For I hate that nagging feeling I get when I check my laptop and find 25 new emails, or I check my postal mail and find bills. And if I don’t answer those emails or write the check for those bills immediately, I feel a touch anxious and a bit out of sorts for the rest of the day.

That this occurs is a flaw of mine, I know, but I also know owning a smart phone would increase its occurrence.

That can’t be healthy, can it?