Dave's Fiction Warehouse

In which I bloviate about books, TV, movies, politics and other stuff.

  • Books
  • Movies
  • TV
  • politics
  • Other Stuff
  • thatfuckingtrump

Connect

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Powered by Genesis

Inconspicuous nonconsumption

May 21, 2009 by Dave Knadler

I own five digital cameras and three computers and an assortment of MP3 players. All became obsolete about 15 minutes after unpacking, displaced by newer models with more features. I’ve often wondered what I was thinking when I acquired all this crap, and now Robert Tierney, writing in the New York Times, offers an answer: It’s my primal need to impress strangers.

Thanks for the tip, Bob. I still wouldn’t be complaining if it worked — there are worse things in life than the fleeting admiration of passersby. But Tierney points out that sending messages with material goods is futile. If I thought my 8-gig iPod Touch might garner adoring glances from the chicks at the gym, I thought wrong. And not because they all have 32-gig iPhones. Turns out it has more to do with social invisibity. And that derives from my relatively flat scores in the “Big Five” personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness, stability and extraversion.

Hey, stability! One out of five ain’t bad. But to raise my profile in the other four areas, I’m afraid it might take more than the latest iToy. Perhaps more than a BMW. Or a sailboat, or a place in the Hamptons. In fact, I’ve begun to suspect that acquisition of property is not 100 percent reliable as a path to self-transformation.

It’s sad in a way, this weird idea that happiness can’t be bought. But if Americans are beginning to question the benefits of rampant consumerism, at least the timing works for me. The lack of a steady paycheck curbs the means of shopping anyway, if not the urge. I still pore over the Best Buy circulars every Sunday, but I never buy anything. My car’s eight years old and running a little rough. The last pair of decent sunglasses I acquired were a set of Ray-Bans I found during a walk in the park. A new camera? Forget about it.

Strangely, I don’t feel much different than when I was impulse-buying like the Real Housewives of New Jersey. Life proceeds as before. Shopping doesn’t make you happy, true, but here’s my little epiphany: Not shopping doesn’t make you sad.

More along these lines:

  • just topeka itA corporate sense of humor
  • A few notes on ParisA few notes on Paris
  • Nope. Definitely not a masterpiece.
  • Who might stand the test of time?Who might stand the test of time?
  • February fugueFebruary fugue

Filed Under: Uncategorized

About Dave Knadler

Obscure writer. Lazy photographer. Bashful guitarist. Perhaps too fond of wine. Tireless nemesis of New York Times crosswords, Wordle, Semantle and all other puzzles du jour.

Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    May 28, 2009 at 11:29 pm

    Combine your stability with image stabilization on your Oly’s and you gotta have a rock solid image.

    Stock

  2. Ryan says

    May 29, 2009 at 1:32 am

    Interesting. The best pair of sunglasses I ever had were a pair or Panama Jack’s that I found in the tide in the dusk of Outer Banks, NC.

    They must have liked being alone because I eventually misplaced them as their former owner had.

Recent posts

  • We don’t need no stinking followers
  • This could be
    the last time
  • Still life with dicks
  • Not throwing away
    my shot
  • February fugue

Recent comments

  • Paul Silverman on We don’t need no stinking followers
  • Dave Knadler on We don’t need no stinking followers
  • Dave Knadler on We don’t need no stinking followers
  • Dave Knadler on We don’t need no stinking followers
  • Dave Knadler on We don’t need no stinking followers

FInd something

send dave cash

The obligatory PayPal donation button. Go ahead: Make my day.