lesson 6
                  Our Changing Lifestyles:Trends and Fads
These days urban lifestyles seem to change very fast. It is more than just clothing and hairstyles that are in style one year and out of date the next; it’s a whole way of living. One year people wear sunglasses on top of their heads and wear jeans and boots; they drink white wine and eat sushi at Japanese restaurants; for exercise they jog several miles a day. However, the next year everything has changed. Women wear long skirts; people drink expensive water from France and eat pasta at ltalian restaurants; everyone seems to be exercising at health clubs. Then, suddenly, it has changed again. People wear only natural fabric (safe for the environment); they drink gourmet coffee and eat Thai food; for both leisure and exercise, they go rollerblading.

Almost nothing in modern life escapes the influence of fashion; food, music, exercise, book, slang words, movies, furniture, places to visit, even names go in and out of fashion. For a while, it seems that all mew parents are naming their babies Heather, Dawn, Eric, or Adam. These names are “in.” then, suddenly, these names are “out,” and Tiffany and Jason are “in.” It’s almost impossible to write about specific fads because these interests that people enthusiastically follow can change very quickly.

In the United States, even people can be “in” or “out.” Like people in any country, Americans enjoy following the lives of celebrities: movie stars, sports heroes, famous artists, politicians, and the like. But Americans also pay a lot of attention to people who have no special ability and have done nothing very special. In 1981, for example, an unknown elderly woman appeared in a TV commercial in which she looked at a vary small hamburger and complained loudly, “Where’s the beef?” These three words made her famous. Suddenly she appeared in magazines and newspapers and on TV shows. She was immediately popular. She was “in.” In 1987, an exterminator in Dallas, Texas, decided that he would be very happy if he could find more customers for his small business; he needed more people to pay him to kill the insects and rats in their houses.He put an unusual advertisement in a Dallas newspaper. He offered to pay $1,000 to the  person who could find the biggest cockroach. This strange offer made him suddenly famous. There were stories about him nationwide-from New York to California. He was “in.” However, this kind of fame does not last long. Such people are famous for a very short time.

This is the essence, the central, quality,of a fad. It doesn’t last long. Some fads disappear before we have all even heard of them. How many people remember Green peace swimsuits? They changed color to indicate polluted water. And then there was “Beethoven Bread.” Popular in Japan in 1994, it was expensive-$20 for one loaf. It was made while classical music played in the kitchen. The woman who created this bread emphasized that “bread doesn’t like rock music.”

A person who participates in fads should remember that they come and go very fast, and they often come back in style after 10 to 15 years of being “out.” It might be a good idea never to throw anything away. Mickey Mouse watches and Nehru Jackets may soon be “in” again!