On Anthropomorphizing

In past blog posts I likely have touched on this, but I am going to just go with it again because it amuses me.

This past weekend Ellen's friend Daveigh stayed overnight.  That is her truck there behind our Kia, Optima.  I believe her truck is a Chevy Silverado.... obviously an older model.  

Gary was talking with Daveigh about her truck.  She and her dad got it when she started driving and made it a project that they worked on together.  So Gary was asking her different things about it.  For one thing the other owner used a cheap spray paint to paint it red.  Since Daveigh doesn't have a garage or carport the red has faded into this dark pink color.  She intends to repaint it when funds allow.  In the meantime she has a pink truck.  

Gary asked her if the truck has a name.  "Yes," she said. "Molly". 

We laughed.  But only because we had named the Kia not long after we got it, around 9 or so years ago.  We bought it from our neighbor up the road here. He had bladder cancer and passed away not long after we got the car from him.  His name was Ed.  

Thus the Kia is Ed.  He has been the bane and joy of Ellen's teenaged life.  Haha...

So anyway, lest I get off on a rabbit trail, here is a picture of Ed and Molly hanging out in the driveway.  

Ed is actually the only vehicle we have given an actual name.  The rest we refer to as make and/or model, or function; the Impala, the town truck, the bulldozer...etc. We have tried to name the little Toyota Yaris I drive, but nothing has stuck.

What is it about humans that we needs must anthropomorphize (try typing that on your cell phone three times fast!) inanimate objects? 

I remember my mom always referred to any and every car she owned or drove as "Betsy".   

My brother and sister-in-law had "Chester".  "He" was not a vehicle.  "He" was a chest of drawers that sat in their extended dining area. They used it as an organization tool for school and maybe random office supplies...etc, I'm not sure.

There is, I'm sure, a much deeper psychology behind our tendency to assign personalities to inanimate objects.  But I think really it's convenient; just easier to say "Ed" than "the Kia" or "Chester" than "the chest of drawers over there".  

It's also fun.  A car named Ed.  A truck named Molly.  It made us all smile and laugh with each other.  A connecting quirk we share but are often reluctant to speak about lest we seem to be a little odd to others.  

I wonder: have you ever named anything inanimate in your life? 😊