Fads, Passe Fads, and Followers

Everyone likes to think of themselves as having at least a few individual qualities that make them unique, unlike anyone else. How then do we explain the incredible power of the "FAD" which turns all of us at some point or other from the individuals we pride ourselves on being, into bumbling followers suddenly intent on emulating either another person or something we consider worth aping that that other person does. We unilaterally give up all potential creativity as we are starstruck by the "latest" FAD and we just cannot let it race by without jumping on the bandwagon no matter how fast, jerky or short-lived the ride. Being a follower is not necessarily one of those admirable traits therefore, increasingly, people have chosen to keep the fact that they are followers under wraps. This is done easily enough by allowing the bandwagon to run it's course and then just as it returns from a public run of several successful months and is about to settle into the old bandwagon parking lot for has-been fads, these followers jump on! You might argue that if the fad is past its prime the follower is not a follower, but I believe that a follower is a follower even once removed. The only thing missing and this is what essentially differentiates between the two types of followers is the manic vs laconic speed with which they follow. Following is a multi-level action and in the future when using the word, certain qualifiers will have to be included to ensure the correct meaning has been represented. We all remember that way back fad called scrapbooking and almost all of us have been in homes whose bookshelves and coffee tables house a wide array of these "masterpieces" which were put together LOVINGLY by the scrapbooking fad followers, and while I thought I'd heard the last of this one particular fad, I was wrong. The snail followers have jumped on the scrapbooking bandwagon and are now in the throes of a true fad resurrection so I guess we'll just have to make more room on those shelves because after all even if you are not a follower you can't totally fight a fad!!