My 20s were so lacking in creature comforts, I could have been in a Dickens novel.

Those days are over, thank God.

I can take my clothes directly off my body and deposit them into my very own washing machine (and then, in a magnificent coda, my very own dryer). I also have a dishwasher, a cellphone, wireless Internet and satellite cable service that's so advanced that accidentally sitting on the remote can cause entire air traffic control systems to reset.

Does that make me spoiled?

A new survey by the Pew Research Center suggests the real difference between a luxury and a necessity has dawned on Americans -- and, as a result, we may be getting less spoiled.

In a telephone survey of 1,003 people conducted in early April, only 21% said a dishwasher was a necessity, and 66% said a clothes dryer was a necessity.