How Much is Too Much?

Now that I have you all on Kitty Overload, it’s probably appropriate to discuss when to say when. I think it has more to do with who you are and your relationship to that “thing”. So for my significant other, the overload of Hello Kitty might of happened by my second entry this week. For me, this is just the beginning.

Obsession is a tricky thing. Let’s take a look at our image for this entry. Who would guess that this is just a commercialized children’s hospital? At first glance, it would seem so but, if you think about it, not exactly. In this photo we see newborns. Newborns are not children. They come into this world puppy-like, a clean slate with their eyes barely focused. They couldn’t possibly appreciate being swaddled in Hello Kitty, other than the fact that it keeps them warm and cozy. They couldn’t possibly take in the nurses colorful aprons, see that gorgeous character with no mouth and 6 perfectly placed whiskers and understand they are being given a dose of what kitty means. So, who is this hospital for? The mothers! (And for older children.)

This nurse is tending to a baby inside a Hello Kitty themed maternity ward inside a hospital in Changhua County in western Taiwan. Director Tsai Tsung-chi said, "I wish that everyone who comes here, mothers who suffer while giving birth and children who suffer from an illness, can get medical care while seeing these kitties and bring a smile to their faces, helping forget about discomfort and recover faster."

Some of you reading this may be choking on your kitty kibble, but for me it demonstrates so well that Tsai Tsung-chi mania with a fictional kitten (or at least his understanding of other people’s mania) has literally turned into a “healthy” obsession!