I was trying to pin down this ‘Bulgari blue’ thing for a while. You see it mentioned, sounds all fancy and specific, right? So, I figured, let me see what the big deal was. Started digging around, looking at pictures, trying to get a feel for it. Was it a specific shade? Did you have to buy something ridiculously expensive to even witness it? My practical side was kicking in, trying to figure it all out.
So there I was, scrolling, comparing shades on my monitor, which, let’s be honest, is a fool’s game. Every screen shows it different. I even went to a couple of stores, not the big fancy brand itself, mind you, just places that might have something that kind of blue. Trying to get a real-world sense. It was a bit of a wild goose chase, if I’m being truthful. This perfect, elusive blue.
And this whole endeavor, this hunt for a color, it got me thinking. It reminded me of my old pal, Jimmy. This guy, Jimmy, he wasn’t chasing a color. Oh no, he was chasing ‘the next big idea’. Always. For years, that was his thing.
I remember this one particular phase he went through. He was convinced, absolutely certain, he was going to revolutionize the pet food industry. Not with new food, no. But with an app. An app that would, get this, allow pets to ‘order’ their own food by recognizing their barks or meows through your phone. Yeah, seriously. He poured everything into it. Time, money he didn’t really have, the whole nine yards.
He’d call me up, all excited, talking about ‘bark-recognition algorithms’ and ‘feline preference databases’. I’d be sitting there, probably just finished arguing with customer service about a faulty kettle I bought, and I’m listening to this. I tried to gently, you know, suggest maybe, just maybe, dogs can’t really use smartphones. Or that people generally know when to feed their pets. But he was in the zone. He had his own ‘Bulgari blue’ moment, but his was an app. Something he thought was the ultimate prize.
Predictably, it all went south. The app, after months of hype and his life savings, was a spectacular flop. I mean, who would’ve guessed, right? He was crushed. Called me up one night, not to talk about algorithms, but just to talk. Sounded like the old Jimmy again, the one before the ‘visionary genius’ phase took over.
We met for a coffee. He looked tired, really worn down. He talked about the debt, the arguments with his wife, the whole shebang. I didn’t bring up my little ‘Bulgari blue’ quest. Seemed pretty trivial compared to his train wreck of an experience. We just sat there, two guys who’d been chasing something elusive. Him, a fantasy app; me, a perfect shade of blue that probably only looked good in their heavily edited marketing photos anyway.
It just showed me, really. We all have these things we fixate on. Sometimes it’s a color, sometimes it’s a crazy app idea. We think if we just get that one thing, everything will click into place, life will be perfect. But life’s usually not that simple, is it? The real stuff, the important stuff, is often a lot less glamorous, and it definitely doesn’t come with a fancy brand name or a revolutionary algorithm attached.
Jimmy’s doing okay now. Back to a regular job, paying the bills. Says he’s learned his lesson about ‘disrupting’ industries with half-baked ideas. As for me, I never did find that ‘perfect’ Bulgari blue. I just kind of gave up on it. Some things, you just gotta let them be, I guess. Not everything needs to be chased down and captured like it’s the most important thing in the world.
