"this car better fits his personality"

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I was reading 'a guide to earthlings' today and there is a section about NT identities being tied to material possessions.

It reminded me of a friend whose fiance mentioned that his new car "fits his personality better." This concept, at least spoken out so blatantly in words, was so foreign to me. I mentioned that this was such a foreign idea to me to another friend who just shrugged my comment off. (The second friend thinks I'm pretty weird, so it was just a weird comment he ignored.)

Does anyone else have an example of people so blatantly identifying personality characteristics with their possessions?

I've been told that a jeep would better fit my personality.
A jeep is sure alot better when you go off-roading in the Badlands of South Dakota
than a small four-door car.
I wanted to see the buffalo in the Badlands down a dirt road in the National Park
and had to turn back around
so I wouldn't damage my car.
I think some sort of van would be even better,
having heard a little about jeeps.
My case might be different from most people's
because I've been known to drive cross-country road trips to mountains
to take landscape and nature photos.
I'm an artist.

...

My car fits my personality in that I don't want a car that breaks down a lot or needs many repairs. I just want it to get me there and back. I don't need the car to look sleek or flashy.

I'm a musician who plays several instruments.

But that's because those instruments happen to have the qualities that produce the music I want, not because they fit my personality as some fashionable asset or whatever purpose fancy cars serve for the people the OP described.

Yes, I do believe autistics are generally more "functional", pragmatic and ecclectic in everything they do. That is my impression, not meaning to come across as an autism-supremacist, which one runs the risk of when talking about "those pesky NTs and how they're all the same"

As neurotypes are all within a spectrum, there are NTs who identify with posessions to a greater degree than others. Some are very anti-materialistic. They have to be, otherwise all monks and nuns would have to be autistic, as they are generally the least materialistic.

I really understand your confusion. I did some online marketing surveys recently and I there were so many questions that left me scratching my head. I was so often asked to ascribe a personality characteristic to all kinds of products from alcohol to insurance companies or to nominate which juice product I identified with most. How can I identify with juice?, I just drink it.

Ah, consumerism & sales techniques! Find the attribute of a person that resonates with what you want to sell and if you are good, you've got your commission or this month's sales goal met! It's one part faux-psychic, one part psychology and one part showmanship...

I've noticed, by the way, that commission sales people whose main skill is "connecting" with a potential mark - sorry, "customer" - tend to avoid me. Others AS/ASD people have said something similar. Which leads me to believe much of marketing is a bit of that stuff you find in small piles in cow pastures...

I thought this was the coolest song when I heard it in 2002 - "Jim Crow - Hot Wheels"; it was on the radio quite a bit. The lyrics are very real; I won't post them all here because I think they might violate the terms of this BBS, but some of them are:

Every girl that I know
And every girl that I see
They all wanna cut
But it's really not me, it's the car

This was one of the most honest things I had ever heard. My buddies and girl friends didn't really like it - maybe because it was too direct? I really liked it because I was rejected by some cute girl I really hit it off with in '97 - after she saw the car I was driving at the time (among other things, honestly).

I suppose my car fits my personality…….I don't have one….

My truck is older and never got used to it's full potential. Yet in some ways it's just getting broken in. It actually runs better now than when it was new, due to some misalignment when it was being put together - it was originally built to run on a different fuel. It's quirky, but over the years I've changed it to fit my needs.

Psychoanalyze that...

an analog TV being loud and stout like the person watching it.

I'll drive anything with AUTOMATIC transmission that is dependable and in good shape, however I'd prefer a van over a Jeep or SUV type. An automatic van is next on my "wheels" list, but I'll want the commercial type with fewer windows in the back that I can turn into a "man cave" on wheels.

Uh, I realize you likely do not mean it in this way *at all* but due to the history of unhinged guys driving around in their "special" vans with no windows you might want to refrain from talking about your van that way with other people. My first thought was the memory of when I saw Tree Frog Johnson's windowless commercial van, just inside the impound yard fence some decades back - creepy as hell.

Eek indeed! I Googled it and finally found a supposed pic of that van along with the story I read which is horrible. I just want a van with the comfort features in back that I have in my room at home (what we call "man cave" in my area) to enjoy when I head up the mountains and so forth. No intentions of providing rides for kids even if THEY ask me. It's sad that such a practical style of vehicle gets so much negative stigma based on a certain individuals' deranged behaviour. I realise there have been a lot of other shocking tragedies that's happened in "panel" vans since they were created, and hope I never end up buying a used one with such a history.

I think if you just called it your "mini-RV" most people would shrug and some might be slightly envious. As someone who occasionally naps in my vehicle at lunch (and wakes up with a stiff neck), and has always loved road trips your 'next vehicle' sounds like a wonderfully comfortable, practical ride.

Good suggestion, Eden. Will call it that once I finally get it.

Hey I'm from South Dakota!

I can relate to the cars because I have had a recent interest in German cars. I even learned how to do the timing belt on my Audi this summer. Different makes, models, and sizes prescribe to different lifestyles and mentalities. Audis for example appeal to efficiency and performance. People like Ford and Chevy because they are simple but tough. Many Japanese cars are called "rice burners" because sometimes idiots will drive them as if they have a souped up race car when in fact their car really is not tuned up for racing; it just gives the false impression with cheap appearance of a race car.

I have noticed that "NTs" (I hate the terminology) tend to do this on different levels with material possessions, like the brand of cigarettes they smoke or the kind of video games they play. Also, the breeds of dog they would like to own. I also tend to do this, too, but in a different manner. For example, I enjoy playing bass guitar. I like Fender precision basses because of the way they look and because Leo Fender bassically (pun) invented the electric bass. They do in a very abstract, somehow subconscious manner share details of the appearance of an upright bass, which I find aesthetically pleasing and secretive. They are also incredibly simple. An "NT" on the other hand might own a Fender to appear professional/rich or achieve a certain status. They might get one because that is what everybody else uses or because of a certain style of music that the isntrument is affiliated with.

The most annoying materialistic thing for me right now is beer. So many snobs who refuse to drink cheaper beer for political reasons and want to be perceived as a well-seasoned connoisseur who often make fun of people who drink cheap beer.