Over-Consumption

One thing that has caught my attention ever since I lay foot in the US, is how much Americans over-consume. And no, this post is not about food, that leads to obesity, it's about buying shit all the time.

Take for instance my boss. He has 4 coffee makers. One is the good old Mr. Coffee he got when he got married and that had used for 15 years; then he got a more fancy one with espresso maker, milk steamer, and the whole nine years that has been used only to make drip coffee; then he got one that makes coffee in cold (you put the coffee, aad cold water, let it sit for 12 hours, filter it, and the resulting syrup is stored in the fridge and when you want a coffee you put a little bit of it with hot water and voila); and now he got a new one that uses overpriced coffee in a fancy wrap and that takes just seconds for your daily drip. Four coffee makers Dude!

Take then one of my co-workers and a pretty cool guy: he has 5 drills, yeah, five; like in the "Jackson Five". He got his first drill back in the days "when they first came out"; then he got another one that was faster and with two speeds; then he got one that is 'wireless'; he got then a little Black and Decker that is only for screws; and finally he saw one that has like 200 different bits and screws and got it. Five drills man!

Last week the three of us had a conversation and my boss was talking about his uncle who lived in Florida and that somehow got the chance to visit the "Summer Village" of movie director Dino deLaurentis. My boss recalls that his uncle saw that this guy had around "200 Italian suits and 50 pairs of shoes, all the same" in that house that was used only few weeks a year. I would say we can cut that in half, and then cut in half again: you know, the power of exaggeration is tremendous. But the thing is that they were saying that how come he has so many suits, that he could barely use them, plus all that money that he has spent in those suits. Their conclusion is that when you have too much money you just waste it in things you don't need.

That was a very clever conclusion and I reached the same conclusion . . . having in mind my boss and my co-worker.

The amount of money that a famous Hollywood director makes and that allows him to buy "200 Italian suits" for his summer village, is directly proportional to the money my boss makes and that allows him to own 4 coffee makers, likewise allowing my co-worker to have 5 drills. In other words, comparing the income of a famous Hollywood director to that of my boss, the amount spent buying 200 Italian suits is directly proportional to my boss buying 4 coffee makers, or my co-worker's 5 drills.

I hope I made myself understood in this one.

So, people from America, why do you over-consume? But first think: do you over-consume shit like my boss and my co-worker? Am I somehow right when think that people here in the US spend money because it grows on trees?