Too much choice – even for a capitalist

Author: Lee Ballantyne

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I sometimes wonder whether our consumer-driven society is the best way to go. I realize that sounds like heresy for a capitalist, but sometimes shouldn’t we just say no to more of everything?
Recently I bought a new watch. I didn’t need a watch. The one I wear keeps perfectly good time and I can make it glow in the dark so I’ll know what time it is when I get up for a whiz in the middle of the night.
However, when I spotted a bit of shiny wrist bling at Wal-Mart that was selling for $8, I couldn’t resist. After wearing the new timepiece for a few days, I realized it was difficult to tell the time because the numbers were too close together.
I am always amazed at the price spread for watches. Slick magazines such as GQ and Esquire are chock-a-block with ads for chronometers, chronographs and timepieces, but hardly any for simple watches and not one for a watch that sells for eight bucks. The fancy-named watches usually sell anywhere from 100 to many thousands of dollars, and if you wear a chronograph that cost you $25,000, you’re nuts.
Modern watches are worn because they do one thing very well; they keep good time. If my watch is out by a few seconds a month, I’ll never know it and does it really matter? My watch is also water resistant to 30 metres. That’s about the height of a nine-storey building. If you ever find me almost 100 feet under water, you can be sure I’ll be dead. But my watch will keep on ticking.
What got me to thinking about consumer excess this week was a visit to a local home renovation outlet. As I wandered the aisles wondering if I would ever find an exit, I passed a display of toilet seats. There were 30 different brands. Can anyone tell me why we need to choose from 30 toilet seats? Wouldn’t it be easier if we stuck with six choices? Soft, harder, hardest ... small, medium, and monster butt.
The Beer Store boasts it carries more than 350 brands of suds. Most beer aficionados would be happy with the two most popular brands found in bars everywhere, cold beer and on tap.
The auto industry is in big trouble. Could one reason be that there are more than 300 models available?
I confess to being a crazy consumer at times. I counted 33 golf shirts in my closet yesterday. I don’t play golf 33 times a season. But I do look the part in my Greg Norman polo. I also have one white dress shirt suitable for funerals.
An update: A couple of columns ago, I wrote about awaiting the arrival of a grandchild. Happily for everyone, most of all mom Cynthia, my son Steven and his wife have a daughter Megan Elizabeth. And because it’s somehow important for women to know this ... eight pounds, nine ounces after only 15 minutes of pushing.