[5] A person comes to live in the United States for a few years usually notices that lifestyles seem to change very fast. It is more than just clothing and hairstyles that are in style one year and out of date the next; they are a whole way of living. This person might notice that one year people wear sunglasses on top of their heads and that they wear jeans and boots; that white wine is drunk and sushi is eaten at Japanese restaurants; that for exercise they jog several miles a day. However, the next year they noticed that everything had changed. Women wear long skirts; people drink expensive water from France and eat pasta at Italian restaurants; everyone seems to be exercising at health clubs.

[4] Almost nothing in modern life escape the influence of fashion; food, music, exercise, books, slang words, movies, furniture, places to visit, even names go in and out of fashion. For a while, it seemed that all new parents are naming their babies Heather, Dawn, Eric, or Adam. These names are "in". Then, suddenly, these same names are "out"; and Tiffany and Jason are "in." It's almost impossible to write about specific fads because these interests that people enthusiastic follow can changed very quickly.

[10] In United States, even people can be "in" or "out". Like people in any country, Americans enjoy following the lives of celebrities; movie stars, sports heroes, famous artists, politicians, and the like. So Americans also pay a lot of attention to people who have no special ability and have done nothing very special. In 1981, for example, an unknown elderly woman appeared in a TV commercial whereby she looked at a very small hamburger and complained loudly, "Where's the beef ?" These three words made her famous. Suddenly she appeared in magazines and newspapers and TV shows. She was immediately popular. She was "in": In 1987 an exterminator in Dallas, Texas decided that he would be very happy if he could find more customers for his small business he needed more people to pay him to kill the insects and rats in their houses. He put an unusual advertisement in Dallas newspaper: He offers to pay $1,000 to person who could find the biggest cockroach. This strange offer made him suddenly famous. There were stories about him nationwide from New York to California. He was "in". In conclusion, this kind of fame does not last long. Such people are famous for very short time. They are fads.

[8] What causes such fads to come and go? And why do so many people followed them? Although clothing designers and manufacturers influence fads in fashion because they want to make a profit, but this desire for money doesn't explain fads in other area, such as language. For example, why had teenagers in the past twenty-five years used- at different times the slang words groovy, boss, awesome, or rad in conversation instead of simply saying wonderful? According to Jack Santino, an expert in popular culture, people who follow fads are not irrational they simply want to be part of something new and creative, and they feel good when they are part of "in group". Fads are not unique to the United States. Dr. Santino believes that fads are common in any country that has strong consumer economy- e.g., Britain, Japan, and Germany. However, in the United States there is an additional reason for fads: Most Americans seem to feel that something is wrong if there isn't frequent changes in their lives.

[6] Dr. Santino points out that it's sometimes difficult to see the different between a fad and a trend. A fad, he says, lasts very short time and is not very important. A social trend lasts a long time and became a true part of the modern culture. A trend might be use of personal computers; a fad might be certain types of computer games. A recent trend is the nationwide interest in good health, so many fads come from this trend: aerobic dancing, special diets, imported water, and the like.