Don't Judge Me
When I was dating and stepped into my potential sweetheart's apartment, I would immediately sniff out their book collections. I wanted to see what they had read, or at least what they had interest in reading. This is what we call "revealed preference" in economics. How to intepret the evidence:
1) They don't have a lot of books
-well, this doesn't mean they don't read, but it does mean they don't form long-lasting relationships with their books. They have literary one-night stands, at best, and are a-book-sual at worst.
2) They have books, but no high lit. This is probably worse than number one; now I know they do form relationships with their books, but not the books I want in my life. and you remember health ed--you sleep with every book your partner sleeps with.
3) They have a mostly random assortment, comprised of literature, old textbooks, how-to books, self-improvement, etc. This means they mostly accept books as gifts from others, and are not invested in any particular genre, themselves. If you give them Dr. Phil's Diet book, it might end up right up against their copy of Kerouac (a gift before their graduation trip to Europe, of course).
4) They have great high literature books, and some weird collection of books all of whose subject is Katherine the Great. This guy is perfect (for me). Not because of the subject of the weird collection, but because they have some obsession which books have helped to nourish and heal. Also, now I can move to the secondary phase of my investigation: What books can I immediatley borrow? (this can also help determine the probable length of our relationship).
5) The above, but they also have Keirkegarrd, Heidegger, Nietzche, etc. At this point, I offer the use of my womb to house their children for nine months.
I have no illusions that everyone uses these criteria to judge others. But now I ask you, faithful reader (and hopefully, faithful commenter), on what possessions do you judge your potential sweetbuns?
1) They don't have a lot of books
-well, this doesn't mean they don't read, but it does mean they don't form long-lasting relationships with their books. They have literary one-night stands, at best, and are a-book-sual at worst.
2) They have books, but no high lit. This is probably worse than number one; now I know they do form relationships with their books, but not the books I want in my life. and you remember health ed--you sleep with every book your partner sleeps with.
3) They have a mostly random assortment, comprised of literature, old textbooks, how-to books, self-improvement, etc. This means they mostly accept books as gifts from others, and are not invested in any particular genre, themselves. If you give them Dr. Phil's Diet book, it might end up right up against their copy of Kerouac (a gift before their graduation trip to Europe, of course).
4) They have great high literature books, and some weird collection of books all of whose subject is Katherine the Great. This guy is perfect (for me). Not because of the subject of the weird collection, but because they have some obsession which books have helped to nourish and heal. Also, now I can move to the secondary phase of my investigation: What books can I immediatley borrow? (this can also help determine the probable length of our relationship).
5) The above, but they also have Keirkegarrd, Heidegger, Nietzche, etc. At this point, I offer the use of my womb to house their children for nine months.
I have no illusions that everyone uses these criteria to judge others. But now I ask you, faithful reader (and hopefully, faithful commenter), on what possessions do you judge your potential sweetbuns?
Labels: Relationships
posted by slickaphonic at 4:28 PM
3 Comments:
I generally judge people by their music collection.
Do they have a variety or do they limit themselves to one genre.
Are they into to corporate made boy/girl bands.
Is it all top 40 or do they have a collection based on their tastes.
What new groups can they introduce me to, that I haven't heard of.
I think everyone has something that they secretly judge new potential partners on. Be it movies, music or books.
This post is awesome!!
I go by music collections, too--I just want to know what I can burn onto my ipod!
See, I view music collections as a secondary--or perhaps tertiary--possession upon which to judge others. I don't know why, but it seems that I get much less information about a person's personality/worth as a human being from delving into the records they own...
Post a Comment
<< Home