Hasta La Ideas

Years ago I was driving down Second Avenue when a yellow cab sideswiped me pretty bad. No one was hurt, though the left side of my car was shredded. The cabbie apologized and said his company would pay for the damages; in a country and city where no one likes to take blame, the guy was clearly a foreigner.

What surprised me most was my friends’ reactions–they all seemed shocked that I wasn’t freaking out about the way my car looked. “I don’t really care,” I explained.

“But you love your car,” they said.

“No no–I love driving,” I said. “Big difference.”

What I’ve found is that when people discover you like an activity, they assume you love and venerate the object associated with that activity. Cooks are expected to polish their pots; surfers are expected to wax their boards lovingly; iPhone users are supposed to buy sexy little skins for them.

But I’m biased. I’m a utilitarian, your classic I-don’t-want-a-toaster-I-just-want-toast kind of guy. I don’t care if my car is banged up or if my iPhone is scratched, I just want these things to work. I wouldn’t have even bothered to get the car fixed if I wasn’t planning to someday sell it.

So it surprises, and maybe even irritates me to see this company called SGP selling these ridiculous “gadget trim” cutouts that allow you to accessorize your gizmos.

Really, guys? Faux gold plating inside the freaking battery compartment?

I realize that there are plenty of racer boys who will spend $20,000 on a car, and another $20,000 on cosmetic accessories. I realize there are plenty of schoolgirls who can never get enough stickers and trinkets for their cell phones. I realize it, I just don’t understand it. I can’t map out how interacting with these accoutrements causes the pleasure center part of the brain to light up.

So I’m asking you guys–earnestly, not facetiously–can one of you explain this to me?

via gizmodo

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