Where Style Is One Size Fits All

I recently moved into a new apartment and, being the debt-laden urban 20-something that I am, headed to Ikea to shop for furniture.

Like most people, I prefer to think I’m unique, but visiting Ikea makes me wonder about that . . .

I have a love-hate relationship with the Swedish superstore. Yes, I was there three times last week and that $89 Billy bookcase now standing in my living room sure looks good, but shopping at Ikea could be easier.

First, there’s the dearth of outlets: Only two stores--one in Burbank and one in Carson--serve the entire L.A. area. Then there’s the maze-like setup. I walked in a circle but didn’t realize it until I tripped over the Swedish snack shop a second time.

But, as a woman next to me in the interminable furniture pickup line put it, these minor annoyances are the price you pay for a good deal.

What really bothers me about Ikea is when I’m there, I am overcome with the eerie feeling that there are millions of “unique” 20-somethings out there who are . . . just like me.

We all sit in the same Ikea Norsta armchairs, watching TV shows produced by media Big Brother Viacom, Instant Messaging our pals on AOL while wiping Big Mac grease on the sleeves of Gap sweaters and emitting a collective “baaaa.”

I experienced the herd mentality again recently when I attended the taping of an NBC TV show. While waiting on the sidewalk to get into the studio, I overheard a page refer to the audience as an entity that needed to be loaded. Couldn’t she have used another word? Then again, maybe that is what we have become: a faceless, nameless load of consumers waiting to lap up the Next Big Thing.

Baaaaa.

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Speaking of mass culture, I got a mass e-mail the other day that I lapped up. Sure it went to billions of people; but like a bargain Billy bookcase, it had a certain charm.

It was a list, “The Top 25 Signs That You’ve Grown Up.” A few of my favorites:

* “I just can’t drink the way I used to” replaces “I’m never going to drink that much again.”

* Dinner and a movie is the whole date, not just the beginning of one.

* You go from 130 days of vacation time to five.

* Six a.m. is when you get up, not when you go to sleep.

* Your potted plants stay alive.

I would add to the list: You’ve stopped whining about shopping at Ikea and start whining about shopping at Pottery Barn.

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Pop-culture news service Wireless Flash says Muhammad Ali, who turned 58 Monday, can be credited with introducing the slang word “fox” to describe a sexy woman. He first used the term in 1963. . . . The London Daily Mirror reports that Chastity Bono, gay activist and daughter of Sonny and Cher, will launch her own perfume, with the profits going to gay causes. . . . Godiva Chocolatier is borrowing a trick from Willie Wonka. The candy maker is holding a golden ticket-type contest for Valentine’s Day in which $20 heart-shaped gift boxes may include a certificate to win two diamond necklaces.

Yet another good reason to eat chocolate.

Moore can be reached at booth.moore@latimes.com.