Swindled Again!

I have been studying the ancient art of Tai Chi for a little more than a year now. Every quarter my class meets in the Student Rec Center and begins practice with silent warm-ups. My chosen pair of shoes have been well broken in and, when I am late, they squeak as I try to creep behind the group. I've been thinking about getting some new shoes.

All the enlightened Wushu kids in the class, and our instructor, wear these kung fu shoes. Maybe they would be a good purchase. The shoes look like this:

Can you see those glorious little white feet? The shoes are called "FEIYUE" and I take them to be an authentic kung-fu shoe, because the peers whom I trust wear them. So maybe I'll check these out for a new tai chi sneaker. I visit the website and stare dumbly at the screen, crestfallen. There are a plethora of sneaks to choose from. They're like Adidas.

Here, I was enamored with what I thought was a little brand. Authentic, genuine. But when I learned it is a shoe giant, all the magic was gone. I didn't want to sort through their plethora of pedantic bipedal designs! I just wanted the classic shoe.

And this is the point at which most people are overwhelmed and feel bombarded with meaningless options. Why can't a brand, a product, a choice, or an experience be just one good thing? Just one. Is that too much to ask?

(To supplement my post, watch Malcolm Gladwell on TED. Around 9 minutes.)