But bad taste? That's a universal........
This has been inspired by this blog from earlier today. Link
Alright, so you're shopping for a car. Wow. What amazing options! With very little variance in money, you can choose from a huge array of choices. So.........you pick something plain jane that'll get you from a to b, right? Don't care what it looks like as long as it gets you there.
No? You want to go with something a little different? Okay, so you go with something a little more tasteful and pick up a 70 Mach 1, loaded with all the features. You spend ten grand on it, and another five to fix it up sweet. About the same price as getting a new Kia. Now you've got the big magnum wheels, the louvres and spoiler in the back. A big 429 C.J. under a four barrel holley and a shaker hood, and maybe 300 horsepower if you haven't souped it up too much. Don't have that much.
Oh, so I guess you'll blow a couple of grand on an old Nova or something and give it a little TLC and a paint job, right?
No? Don't like sports cars? Okay, you found yourself an old mercedes or beamer for a couple of grand. Did a little work on it, gave it a paint job, now you're riding in style for not much money. Don't think you can do this with cars? I have. You may have to learn a little, but you can.
And you can customize it ANY way that you want to. There are all the modifications in the world that you need to refine your car into a piece of grace and elegance.
NOT. Admit it. You just spent six grand on an old honda civic with a 150,000 miles on it. Then you put an ugly ground kit on it and a spoiler that was too tall to let it fit into the garage. Good grief man, you have to look up at the power lines before making any turns. It's been primer grey.....and black.....and red.......except for that one bit that's still nasty florescent snot green. The color you want the whole thing to be when you're done. But damn. Those are some mighty spiffy rims. They're ugly as sin, but you can tell they must have cost at least a couple of grand.
Then that wasn't enough to annoy the neighbors, so you got one of those crappy racing mufflers that buzz so loud. Wow. That brought you up an extra 5 horsepower to a grand total of 130! And you put in a cheap speaker box that you promptly blew trying to play 50 cent too loud to show how tough you are by who you listen too. Not that the extra distortion stops you from listening to it. Good job!!! As soon as you can figure out the rest of the ground effects, that strobe light effect is sure to cause neighborhood traffic accidents.
My point? Henry Ford once said, you can have it any color..........just as long as it's black. The man was smarter than he knew. (at least about that, socially and politically he was a frickin' antisemitic peasant hatin' assclown.) As more and more products offer us an increasing number of options, do we pick the ones that are tasteful? That are pleasing to the eye and ear?
Nope. The more options that we, the great unwashed masses have to choose from, the worse ones we pick. Either we go with simple conformity to the latest fashion, or more likely we slave ourselves to said fashion, but fuck it up.
Don't believe me? Think back to the fashions of twenty, thirty years ago. Bad enough, right? Now go get out the family albums. Look at the newpapers for the period. Yikes.
Or take it more modern. Go down to the local walmart. Your prescription is ready anyway. Step away from the cheap dvd rack. Now, look around. How many people around you are well dressed. Not money wise, how's their taste? Would you be caught dead in that outfit? Out of all the possibilities for different clothing, they chose that. Poor? Okay, you can still dress nice if you're careful at the thrift shops.
Me? I'm an a to b dresser for the most part. But I at least try not to dress poorly. Not so important as the need to think about what you're doing. When you go to change that ring tone and turn the volume up all the way, think. Would I really want to listen to the Black Eyed Peas singing about their "lovely lady lump" every time you got a phone call? Does it make me look any better to myself or other people? What am I thinking? Maybe they ought to offer classes in public schools on taste and fashion.
You've got the options. You have the freedom to personalise your life, to "skin" it if you will. You can modify everything from the clothes you wear, to the car you drive, to the background on the email you just sent flaming me for this article. Sure, money is a factor as to how limited your choices are. But it's far from the defining factor. Please. Don't become eye pollution. Think for a minute. Yes, it's your freedom, now use it wisely.