And then you have the insidious social media influencer shit, especially on Instagram and TikTok, where people posing as everyday randos start gushing about how great X product is… A week later, my partner is demanding whatever the latest Ninja kitchen gadget is, while the last four sit on the counter in varying states of disuse. Or worse, those emery cloth abrasive “hair removers” that are just white label AliExpress trash that scratch the ever-loving shit out of your skin and sometimes leave bits of grit in stuck in your skin and/or pores. It’s a little horrifying to watch “consumer demand” get generated in real-time against an otherwise rational person.

Maybe I’m just hyper-aware of it because of my own history with piss-poor impulse control and some hard-learned lessons.