I’m Glad You Like Your Favorite Brand – Now, Leave Me Alone
“You should have gotten INSERT MY FAVORITE BRAND.”
“INSERT MY FAVORITE MODEL is amazing! Why didn’t you get that instead? It’s so much better.”
Is there anything more annoying than telling an acquaintance you’ve bought a motorcycle only to have them counter with what they think you should’ve bought instead? Or why it sucks? Or that you can expect it to blow up in 3 days? Or 58 reasons why theirs is better, faster, newer? Or that X model (that you didn’t buy) never has problems?
Here’s a Newsflash:
If I WANTED something else I would have BOUGHT something else.
I suspect that in the case of friends who react this way it’s because they love what they have and they want you to be happy, too. But the delivery of their message can just come across all wrong. Instead, they just end up insulting your choice.
In reality, the insult doesn’t matter – you still like what you like – but I think it’s human nature that it gets your hackles up. It can be hard to hold your tongue and not return the favor of telling them why you don’t like their choice. But doing so just perpetuates the cycle of annoyance.
Can we just go back to “that’s nice, dear” and then talking shit about it to our spouses? 😉
That’s right up there with this conversation…
“I just got back from a vacation to Mississippi. I loved it!” traveler says.
“Mississippi? Why’d you go there? You should’ve gone to (insert any other place name),” says ignorant, oblivious schmuck.
I miss the days of people having listened when their Mom said, if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.
We had similar experiences when we went to Iceland a few years ago. Lots of people asked “why” with a wrinkled up face.
I’m a brand loyalist. I like what I like and I am loyal to that brand. I’m a devout Harley guy, I love Garmin, Milwaukee leathers, Bell Helmets, anything Firstgear, Coke rather than Pepsi (I used to be a Pepsi guy but it the chemicals upset the belly), Peanut M&M’s, Ovation Guitars and Moab. I’ll talk about these things with passion and share that with you. I may suggest you try it but I will never tell you that these things I love are what you should love to because they are better. They are my things, not yours. To each his own.
Ride on McDuff.
Right on, Ted! I’m right there with you. I completely support people loving brands and sharing great experiences with them. Just not at the expense of someone else.
“Should” is one of the most dangerous words in our language.
When I was new to motorcycle and insanely eager about my cruiser (a bright red Kawasaki Vulcan), I was crushed when strangers would insult the bike, usually along the line of it’s not a “real” motorcycle ’cause it’s not a Harley. That dampened my enthusiasm when it meant something.
Now, I totally disregard the uninvited opinions of others. Buy whatever you want and I’ll make my own choices, thank you very much. You’re right, of course, that it’s rude for people to behave this way. Living on Long Island, I’ve developed defenses against rudeness, the principal one being not giving a fuck about what other people think and say.
I think, you made a great choice!
😉
I’m with you on that. I don’t know why people have to be so prejudicial when it comes to bikes. If it has two wheels, I’m in. Heck, I don’t even mind 3! Mostly I’m just jealous because I want a KTM dual sport badly but haven’t figured out how to get my short legs over one!
funny. i know exactly how this is. as soon as i started to ride bikes i bought myself a pair of boots, those nice all-round from a* – s-mx2. had to go to the post office to get them and pay some import taxes and after that i went home to see how they would fit. then my ex arrived, looked at the boots and her very first comment was: “these boots are a piece of cr@p”. couldn’t the person at least fake she was happy for me and save that disgusting comment for someone else? now i know how to proceed in this situation.