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The boboification of Andrew

By Andrew | December 29, 2007

Thanks to my friend Snitty I learned a new term this week: Bobo.

From Wikipedia:

Bobos are noted for avoiding indulging in high acts of conspicuous consumption in favor of spending the greatest amount possible on the “necessities”. Brooks argues that they feel guilty consuming in the way typical of the so-called “greed era” of the 1980s so they prefer to spend extravagantly on kitchens, showers, and other common facilities of everyday life. They “feel” for the labor and working class but may refuse to buy American made goods.

While I’m not in the 50 dollar clothes hanger camp and I’ve only briefly stepped into a Pottery Barn, I have been staring lustfully at a set of Global knives, I did just get a Jawbone headset (because of California’s new law about having to use a hands free kit while driving, and the noise cancellation will really help in the datacenter, so what if I use a grand total of 40 minutes of cell time a month, you’re not the boss of me) for use with the iPhone, and I am typing this on my ThinkPad using a Verizon EV-DO connection while sitting in a cafe sipping a blueberry iced tea. I guess, willingly or not, I have a foot in the bobo camp.

Do I at least get a reprieve if I say my clothes are mostly from Old Navy, I’ve had the same car for 4 years now and the limited amount of furniture in my apartment all comes from IKEA? Or are my “necessities” different from most other peoples’? To be perfectly honest, I could probably live perfectly happily couch surfing as long as I have a fast laptop and an internet connection. So long as I have beer money. And sushi. And a couple cases of wine. And some cigars.

Maybe “bobo” doesn’t fit after all. Maybe I’m purely a hedonist. I think I could be comfortable with that.

At least hedonist doesn’t sound as silly as bobo.

Topics: Musings, Omphaloskepticism | No Comments »

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