In today’s society, many people are more attracted to a person’s material belongings rather than their personality.

“You should see the treatment I get when I’m with that car!” – Joey

Joey finds keys to a Porsche on the bar of the coffee shop. He asks if anyone lost their keys but no one answers. He decides to go find the car and leave the owner a note. When he finds the car, a man walks by and compliments him. Joey says it’s not his but then a woman says the same thing and Joey can’t help but play along. Back up at the apartment, Joey raves about the life of a Porsche owner. People want to talk to him, they’re friendly, and they even give him advice! He assumes that if he just keeps standing next to it people will realize it’s not his so he asks Monica for a bucket and cloth to wash it. As he’s buffing the hood, the owner comes over and asks for the keys. Joey says that he’ll save the parking spot but the owner lives upstate so he’s SOL. The next day Joey walks into the apartment donning Porsche attire (pictured above) so that everyone will still think he owns a Porsche (which he can’t even pronounce correctly, porscha). He’s standing on the sidewalk twirling his keys… but there’s no Porsche in sight which is ruining his facade. He then has the brilliant idea to compile a bunch of boxes under a tarp to look like a Porsche. The plan is going well and two women are flirting with him… until a guy dives for a football and lands in the boxes. Whoops, sorry Joe.

I find that it’s common for men and women alike to think that owning expensive or nice things makes them seem more attractive. Not that all of us like to flaunt big name labels or flashy cars like Joey, but being able to afford nice things is something that we seem to take pride in. Personally, I can afford nice things but I don’t like to show them off. However, I feel like I am more attracted to people who seem to have nice things as well. But is that necessarily bad? In a way, that attraction can be explained as an appeal towards people who are like me. Even with this rationalization, I’m still being attracted to someone for their appearance and material belongings instead of their personality. I think that this tends to be a common occurrence among people because it’s harder to know someone’s personality. It takes time and effort. It’s easier for us to like someone for the nice shirt and shoes they’re wearing or the expensive cologne or perfume they sport. I’m not saying personality isn’t a factor of attraction. Just because you’re attracted to someone physically doesn’t mean you’ll feel the same way about their personality. I suppose the question is whether we want people to initially be attracted to us by our appearance or our personality. I’d like to say that I’d prefer the latter but I know that’s not how I am attracted to people at first. Like Joey and the Porsche, we use our appearance and belongings to lure people in so that they will get to know our personality and hopefully like us even more. Attraction is a funny thing… sometimes it’s there, other times not, but always when you’re the owner of a Porsche.