Brand-new things & hating to remove packing & sticke

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Just wondering on a little quirk I have always had; as to whether it's just me, or could be an AS thing...

Whenever I have either bought or received as a gift, anything like electronics, tools, and even toys when I was a kid, I get into a state of stress at the thought of unpacking them or opening the boxes, and making them "not new anymore". I shudder at the idea of removing any labels, plastic bags, foam padding, or whatever was used to pack the item at the factory because it feels like I'm ruining the newness or something. I'm SUPER-careful, and never tear bags or crack the styrofoam blocks (such as those which hold a TV or other things in the box securely), and I keep all that stuff just as carefully as the item itself. I remember when I was 4 and 5 years old, and the other kids were playing with their Lego sets, I was happier unpacking, counting, and repacking exactly as factory-new.

This usually is only a quirk, and not a problem, but now I have a brand-new Toyota truck sitting out front unusable, which I bought yesterday to replace my 7-year-old Toyota truck. I told the dealer I wouldn't accept it if they touched any of the plastic on the carpets, or the stickers all over it from the factory, and they were OK with that, but I had to make a big issue of it to be sure they were clear on that! Because in the past, I told a car dealer that I wanted it with all the packing on it, and they thought I was kidding. I wasn't kidding and I refused the car, and made them get another one out of the lot, and re-do all the paperwork! I know they thought I was cuckoo, but so what... I drove it home with the windows open so as to be able to see out (windows still covered with all the stickers and informational decals).

But now here it sits out front... Brand-new, and I can't bring myself to take off any of the plastic protective covers from the upholstery or any stickers!! !! Today I'm going to just drive the old one until I figure out how to carefully remove the stickers and all the plastic coverings from the carpets, etc., without ruining the newness of it. I imagine that most people would be so happy and excited to have a brand-new vehicle, and that feeling should supersede any feelings of wanting to preserve the "untouched/still brand newness". Logically, I see clearly how peculiar and goofy this is, but it's how I feel, and that's not something I choose to feel. I'll resolve it, and quickly, but meanwhile I'm curious if anyone else here, has this issue? For the past 10 years, I've bought nearly-new used vehicles JUST to avoid this emotional turmoil of having to be the one to "un-brand-new-ify" the vehicle (excuse the fake word)...

Charles

Yes.

I'm not quite as extreme as you but I do this too. When I was a kid I would refuse to take toys out of thei rpackaging sometimes, especially action figures. I would just... examine them through the plastic. And I WANTED to touch them but new if I did that it wouldn't be perfect anymore. Then if I finally did break down and open it up, I would put it back into the package. Not legos though. My thing with legos was that I HAD to make the thing on the cover and I HAD to follow the instructions inside exactly. EXACTLY. I didn't have a bin full of lego pieces, I had a display of finished lego projects, exactly as they appeared on the box cover, right down to where each little guy was and what he was "doing" and then I would never touch them or play with them after that. It drove my parents nuts. I would BEG for more legos and they would say "play with the ones you have" which would throw me into a fit because the ones I had were completed! What else was there to do? And I could never build anything myself, ever. I tried a couple of times and ended up going by the instructions. Also if I build something and made one mistake I would tear it apart and start over.

Egads now I want me some legos.

Anyway, as an adult I'm not QUITE as bad. I would say this translates to jewelry and purses. When I buy a purse (ok vera bradley, thats all I buy) I keep it in the bag and put it in my closet for awhile. I take it out and examine it every day. I keep it like that for anywhere from a few days to a week. Then I might take it out of the bag and hang it in the closet, tags still on stuffing still in it of course. I'll continue to examine it daily. Eventually I'll use it. I just got one a couple of days ago and it's still in the bag in the closet. I got REALLY mad the other day because when I was going over it I realized they took the stuffing out at the store Not a deal breaker, I won't take it back but it made me sad.

I am particular about some things being rendered "un-new," but with most things, it doesn't matter (assuming I can safely peel off those infernal bookstore labels on dust jackets ).

Well, I don't do what you do, but I'm sorta the opposite. I don't buy like...anything new. Because once I open the package it's gonna be "used" anyway. So for me, I barely care at all about used things, as I just think "well screw it, it's gonna be used as soon as I take it out of the packaging and use it once" so I almost never buy new clothes, new sports equipment, whatever, as it's just gonna be "used" once I touch it, so why pay extra? Mind you this thought process saves a good deal of money, but yeah. Also I don't have any apprehension about finding things in the trash and using them. Whatever, stuff is stuff.

Yep, I can relate. I bought my truck new in 1998 and it now has over 350,000 miles on it. I was irritated that they "prepped" it when new and took off all that wonderful protective plastic-even though it was going to be used commercially for pizza delivery. To this day I still have the tags and such that they did not remove as well as the window sticker and a complete set of dealership brochures. I even have a factory service manual and all of the original owners manuals.

I don't care about how new anything looks - in fact all the labels and protective stickers and covers and such aggravate me - they drive me crazy. I like things looking worn in, as long as they function perfectly fine. It irritates me when I see someone else keeping protective films on things like computers as well. I don't even use a screen protector on my smartphone because I hate stickers and protective films and all that stuff.

I like new.

It's fun to get new things.

You want to keep them looking new to still have that "fun-ness" and excitement over the new item.

Leaving stickers on new stuff might be a way to try to prolong the excitement over a new item.