Self defining consumerism

Jack: I would flip through catalogs and wonder "what kind of dining set defines me as a person?"

What defines me as a person? What defines any of us. Yes we all have our personality and odd quirks, but recent apartment decorating and various mall adventures has led to the conclusion of consumerism. That's right folks, good old buying and acquiring of stuff that we don't need (and some that we do). Like most people, we own things that are just "so us." The more we see what style those things are, the more we buy things similar to them and we acquire a look, a feel. We have to buy things that make us feel like us. I went shopping for a pair of sunglasses. Initially I had wanted Oakleys, but they just weren't me. Well, damn, who am I? Apparently, I'm a pair of Ray Bans that aren't too long or too skinny but just square enough to sit above my cheeks. And I thought I had moved away from being stuck on one brand, or any brand for that matter. I never thought of myself as playing into the whole young, working, money earning and spending consumer. It's just like that quote says, what kind of (fill in the blank) defines me as a person? How do I express my quirkiness and personality through the stuff I own? How does the stuff I own eventually mold me into a certain type of person with a certain style that I'm too blind to see and can't break out of even if I do se it? What about the books I read? Do I really enjoy reading them or do I just do it purely out of an expectation of me because that's just "who I am?" Even our activities and hobbies get definied by the things we purchase because of the associations that go with it. I bought a corkscrew because the old one broke, so now I'm a wine expert. Well, that's a bad example becuae I do find great enjoyment out of tasting wine and being a sort of oneophile. Ok, but my point is made. Well, what's next? A car? Well, I'd better make sure I buy one that's cool lest I give the impression that I'm not. Or even better, I better be cool so the cool car I buy is a reflection of that; coolness personified.