Read in the papers today that a woman was racing against other fellow shoppers to buy a travelling tumbler that crossed over with Starbucks. During the process, while she was fighting her fellow shoppers, she tripped over and face planted in the shop. Her mother, who was with her, did not try to pick her up, but continued with her own conquest for the same tumbler. Both of them got what they wanted, and in their post conquest review, her mum said she was thinking she knew that her daughter might take a while to get back up, but the most important part was to get the tumbler.
And that got me thinking. When a tumbler on sale is more important than your daughter’s life, are there problems with her priorities?
I am never a person who chases after trends. I am not saying that I don’t possess anything that people considered trendy at one point, but I am not the kind of person who would go to distance to stay at the tip of all trends. That, of course, is partly because I could not afford a lot of them, but mostly because I could see the point.
For me, throwing your life away for a US$45 tumbler is ridiculous. First of all, it is a tumbler. Yes, the design is different, but it is just a tumbler. Second of all, it is US$45! Why would you spend so much money on something you can get for a quarter of the price and can perform the same function? Thirdly, it is a Starbucks crossover. Ok, that one I am biassed, as I am Australian, so it’s part of my build that I don’t drink Starbucks coffee, and that brand didn’t do much for me.
Does that mean I don’t have expensive kitchen or travelware? No, but for me to warrant a high price tag, they need to have the quality that comes with it. I researched online about the tumbler, yeah it is good, but not something other brands or tumblers cannot do. They just look unique, and because of the crossover limited edition tag, they command a high price. For that I really do not think it is worth risking my life for it, fighting other mindless zombie shoppers for it.
Out of curiosity, I went to check out the real thing at the local department store. For me, seriously, apart from the unique shape, I can’t really see what’s the fuss about it. The odd shape and size doesn’t fit properly into anything - your backpack (too big and can’t really stand properly side the bag because of the shape), can’t really put it in the car next to you without bumping into it every time you change gear (yeah I drive a manual car, so maybe not an issue with automatic drivers), and the straw…I mean why do I need a straw tailored for a tumbler, and not just use other kinds over with a drinking outlet? Maybe it is a tactic to get you my replacement straws if they broke or if you lost the cover to the hum…straw? I just don’t understand the fuss and chase about it.
As I said I do buy pricing kitchenware and travelware. But then that’s because I know their quality will be good and they suit my needs. Not because they are trendy. A lot of items I was willing to spend more money on, I am still using them 10 years on. None of them were being left in the lower drawer of my kitchen, leaving me wondering when and why did I buy them? Also, most of them, during this period, most of my friends had to replace their sets two to three times already, so the total cost would be much higher than my initial cost for buying the same set, but at a higher price tag, with higher quality.
The other thing that I could not comprehend is the obsession of some with those so-called high-end sports wear. Yeah, surely some of them have great cuts for utility purposes, but the brands that I was gifted in the past, which continued to be very popular, the quality was simply not that great. They don’t last as long as I would hope, as compared to some other normal sports brands. Some told me that because of their cuts, it made their butts look great even when they are not. But I thought, ‘if you want your butt to look great, shouldn’t you work hard on it, instead of buying something that would make you look great, but as soon as you change to something else, they don’t defy gravity as you would hope for them to be?’
For me sportswear is for wear and tear, but if they can’t be worn and cannot avoid easy tearing, what’s the point? If you only buy them to make you look good, instead of wearing them to work hard to make you look good, doesn’t that defeat the purpose of wearing sportswear? Maybe I am too old fashioned on this, but I couldn’t figure it out.
Now that thinking of it, I might have overthought this whole thing and let people be. They won’t change my world and who I am, why am I thinking and writing about this?
Ok that’s really overthinking. I should just shut up and get back to my real life.
