#V4N1TY
This goes hand in hand with observations I’ve become obsessed with – Americans are becoming more and more deeply rooted in vanity. We have the inability to grasp the concept that a choice we make isn’t necessarily the best choice, but we want to try and influence others that our choice is the best. For some folks, good isn’t good enough. Everything needs to be perfect. I have made it a hobby to watch the actions of others, especially those that are hell-bent on making sure their $25,000 car is as perfect as a hand-built exotic. There can be no small blemish on any consumable. Blemished items are discarded as unwanted trash. A slightly miscolored kernel of corn ruins the entire can of corn. A single run on a paint job is a travesty and demands refunding or major discounts. “I PAID HARD EARNED MONEY [spoiler alert: they did not work hard] AND THIS HAS A (almost imperceptible) 1MM SCRATCH (that can only be seen with a flashlight and a magnifying glass) – I WANT 50% OF MY MONEY BACK!”
If you care to participate in my new found hobby, try to open up your mind and allow yourself to escape the clutches of vanity – then, start paying attention to everyone around you, everyone you come into contact with. Start counting the number of people that obsess over the smallest detail. You will have more jaw dropping moments than you could have ever expected.
I began this journey as a classic car buff back in the 80s. I was brought into it by my father and later, by friends. I kept up with the trends, becoming one of the first to enjoy the hobby of detailing (true detailing, not the joke that the industry’s become) my cars and doing cosmetic work. Custom car stereos, custom paint, avoiding cheap accessories. What it’s turned into is finding pure and pristine barn units, with extreme low miles, spending 2x what the car as originally worth to “restore” it, or, begin building a $40k engine and doing swaps with modern drive trains to make the vehicle as powerful as absolutely possible – which in turn drives these cars to take prizes in the car shows, which drives away the weekenders working on a budget.
We have went from being a society where only the 1% elite rich could afford perfection to the majority DEMANDING perfection at every turn. Buying “sub par” because that’s what we could afford and living with it has turned into buying sub par and demanding that perfection exist. Seeking the most economical (cheapest) contractor’s bid on a project, only to DEMAND perfection in their work.