The folly of irrational acquisitiveness

It used to be that women are the only ones who are irrationally acquisitive. Their typical thought progression goes this way:

“I really like that raspberry-color dress. I must have one.”

“Now that I have it, I need a pair of shoes in just that shade. And a raspberry handbag. And a raspberry belt. Of course, a lipstick too in a matching shade.”

“Wait, that melon-color dress will look fetching on me too, but I can’t afford it right now. Oh, how deprived I am. I am so poor I can’t afford an extra melon dress.”

Of course we know that melon dress would have to have a matching pair of melon shoes, melon belt, melon handbag, and melon-shade lipstick.

Today, this evil thought process has seeped into mainstream population, particularly among men, when it comes to gadgets and, worse, other things they have discovered as unmet needs.

Extra cell phones

Thought balloon: “I subscribe to Globe right now, so I need an extra cell phone for my Smart contacts. Plus another for my Sun Cellular contacts.”

Isn't that a lot of cell phones to be hanging around just one body? That means three corresponding SIM cards and three cell phone numbers, not counting any secret number for a secret paramour. This means most of my friends today have, not one, not two, but three separate numbers. And when there’s an emergency, I am not sure which one to call.

Extra computers

Thought balloon: “Aside from this desktop, I need a laptop I can move around with me. ... Laptops are too heavy to lug all the way to Starbucks; I need a notebook computer. ... Notebook computers have small screens and run too slow; besides, they're passe. I need a tablet computer now.”

Today, you hear things like, “Oh, I left my file on my desktop/laptop/notebook/tablet. I’ll get back to you when I get home/get back to work/get back to my car where I left my iPad.”

Extra cars

“‘Coding day’ for car plates ending in odd numbers (to help ease heavy traffic)? Easy. I’ll buy a new car with a plate that ends in an even number. Since we are four in the family, that means four new cars.”

Today, the traffic problem is four times worse because the number of private cars on the road has quadrupled.

And everyone, from the very poor to the very rich, feels hopelessly deprived.