Ultimate Guide to (Not) Show Off What You Don’t Need

It’s a long day. I’m finally home, and I throw my bag to the ground and sulk over to the coach to meaninglessly scroll on TikTok for at least an hour before my body feels like functioning again. I just want to relax, do nothing, and get lost in the amusement and fanciful entertainment of TikTok while I still can. 

I come across a couple videos– none exciting or drastic enough to catch my eye, until a gleaming video grabs my attention. “Get my Stanley Cup Ready With Me” is the caption of the video. I sit up a little. 

Immediately, I can see that this Stanley Cup has more gadgets and keychains attached to it than I even own. Whoever was filming this– with their long french tip acrylic nails, nicely polished hands, and gold jewelry– has managed to buy not one, not two, but at least five or six different attachments to put on this little water bottle, which probably cost more than it's worth. 

Because let’s face it, Stanley Cups aren’t even practical– they leak, they're huge, they’re bulky, and their handle prevents you from fitting the cup in your car holder. All they're being bought for is the brand. 

Now, that’s not to say that I, too, haven’t fallen victim to the temptations to buy overpriced items. I do in fact own those Lululemon leggings and North Face jackets. Yet, the clear distinction between recklessly buying and practically buying is that I only bought these items when I genuinely lacked them. What overpriced things tend to emphasize is their quality, and quality is what I have indeed found in owning these products. Yet when the quality of an item is severely worse than the price of said item, that’s where I cross the line from helplessly justifying the purchase to outright denying. When it comes to Stanley Cups, I see no justification for their cost or their glaze. 

And now there’s a girl who’s decorating her overpriced Stanley Cup, adding a lip gloss compartment, a hand-sanitizer keychain, and a straw cleaner attachment, all while filling it up with fancy liquid IV and God knows what other chemicals that are supposed to make you feel “fit” and “active” in the morning.

Honestly, does this girl feel no excitement in her life? She feels the need to wake up, make her bed, get ready, and get her Stanley Cup ready as well? 

This little water bottle has more going for it than I do. And maybe, you might say that I’m jealous of this water bottle, but don’t confuse jealousy with sympathy. 

I feel sorry for this water bottle. I feel sorry for it and all the other products people have decided to make look high scale just to flaunt them in public. There is nothing realistic or sincere about a “Stanley Cup Get Ready with Me” video. 

The only thing the video promotes is over-consumerism at its finest; the need to show off all these little trinkets for a water bottle instead of buying products for their practical significance.  

You may say, Maybe this water bottle makes her happy. Maybe it's her pride and joy to wake up every morning to get her water bottle nice and pretty. And if that’s the case, then I feel sorry for that girl as well. Touch some grass, go outside. You know what, just drink a glass of water.

There is much more to life than the products we own. As tempting as it can be, don’t feel the need to show off every little thing you have, and to buy things just because you feel influenced by what you see online. 

There’s a little strategy I use every time before I press “Check Out” or “Buy Now.” I just  ask myself, “Do I really need this?” If you find yourself attempting to justify it for the next five minutes, I’d say buy it at that point, but don't fall into the trap of buying things just to buy things. 

Because sometimes, that Stanley Cup feels so amazing and necessary, but you realize a little later that hey, I have a cabinet full of water bottles at home. 

But if you really want to buy that Stanley Cup, then fine, I guess I’ll let it go. It is a water bottle after all. Just please, do me a favor, and don’t make a “Get Ready With Me” video for it.