Monday, November 19, 2007 Baumgart: One reason By Elisabeth Baumgart inkblots
SOMEBODY in this world has to give me one good reason why I should buy a designer bag worth around Php 800,000.
The reason has to be good, so good that it makes me want to go rob a bank and fly over to Manila and purchase an original Luis Vuitton or Channel bag.
Aside from stirring the insatiable to commit a crime and buy the bag, I must feel no guilt nor must I worry about wasting money. I must feel nothing.
It’s only about the bag-the ridiculously expensive bag.
I must not feel any remorse towards whatever animal skin the bag is made of. I should not care if a poor, defenseless crocodile, snake or cow was viciously massacred to produce the bag.
Again, it’s only about the bag-the ridiculously expensive bag.
I must not feel any guilt for spending the money so shamelessly. Never mind that there are people dying of hunger. Never mind that there are children out on the streets who need the money more.
I must think of only one thing-and that’s the obscenely expensive bag.
If somebody can give me a good enough reason, which can make me feel all of the above, then I shall buy the bag.
But that is highly unlikely. I shall laugh at every person who tries to come up with a good enough reason to buy anything ridiculously expensive.
It’s beyond me, beyond human reasoning for that matter, why anybody would waste money on something so trivial such as a bag, a pair of shoes or other high-end fashion accessories.
“It’s a good investment,” they say.
But still, buying something (which is even not a car) worth close to a million is absurd, period. Hearing somebody even purchase a bag worth that amount is enough to pull my hair out of its roots and scream bloody murder.
Money of such big amount could be easily spent on something more meaningful. I understand that every girl loves her bags and other fine things, but ever heard of charity? Isn’t that more meaningful than spending too much on luxury items?
As I think of it, if I actually did own the ridiculously expensive bag, I doubt I’d ever use it. The last thing that I would want to happen is to damage a bag that is worth more than what I earn.
And while it seems to be everybody’s dream to own something as luxurious as a bag worth Php 800,000, nobody can actually come up with a good enough reason to buy it.
But I shall patiently wait until one can present his or her good enough reason why I should buy a bag that costs much more than what is needed to send several children to school.
