Showmanship and Defeat

[happyfilmluvguy]

A couple of nights ago I saw a few vintage suits on eBay. I felt confident about them and gave them a shot. Turns out I didn't win one single suit. But you know what? I don't care. Shopping can become a greed hungry sport, where "I want this" and "I want that", and "no one else can have it but me". It's not a selfish way of thinking to me. It's more a hope that you could have something special (at the moment), and you're worried that someone else will get it and you'll never see it again. One of the suits I was ready and waiting for but got caught up in work and forgot about it. Right after I realized what happened, I felt that it didn't really matter. It's a suit. It's clothing. It has no more value than to cover my body. My work was more important. My experience and skills are what is going to drive me to greater heights. Not the clothing I wear.

Clothing is a real difficult subject. A lot of people follow a trend, while others avoid it. A lot of people want to make a statement and a lot don't give a damn one way or the other. Why is clothing so important? While these suits passed me by, they'll be others. I'm sure I'm not the only one who, when in the face of competition and momentum on eBay, gets nervous and all I can think about is, "I want it". It's not a selfish thought at all. We all want something in life, and for a moment I wanted a suit that was valuable money wise, but invaluable in meaning. I'll take a job that will serve my purpose over any clothing that passes my way.

 

[carebear]

Competitiveness is inborn to humans, as is the thrill of the hunt. Wooly mammoth being difficult to find nowadays, shopping can replace that thrill to a degree, modern advertising depends on it, and EBay exploits our competitive instincts to an astounding degree.

How many times have you seen or heard of folks getting caught up in the bidding to the point they pay more than the actual retail price?

 

[Twitch]

Placing relative importance on this Ebay and all the "collectable" stuff is the 1step in admitting how silly it is to get caught up in the artifical frenzy of bidding for someone else's junk.

Being able to place one maximum bid and walking away and not getting tricked into "just a dollar more, just a...."

When it comes down to it, it's all just a bunch of stuff you don't need and probably don't have space for. Boredom and money earmarked for frivilousness simply makes things run wild at times.

Everyone has gone :eusa_doh: at one time or another and come to the realization of how insignificant all this swapping of old junk is. How you deal with it in the future will tell.