This article is classified "Real"
One of the mysteries of modern, and perhaps pre-modern, living is the
mystery of the one item that nobody seems to want to touch, for apparently
no more reason than the fact that they don't want to be the only one to do
so. Whether it is from politeness [1] or some deeper knowledge, there will
always be items like this scattered throughout civilisation, whether they be
something as simple as the last orange on a market stall, or a chair in that
sits quietly next to a post-office queue.
The problem could be that human psychology dictates that any item that is
avoided by other people, for whatever reason, must have something wrong with
it, and therefore should be avoided like the plague. To test this theory,
it merely takes one person to knock back the trend by, say, sitting on a
solitary "avoided" chair, and look around at the swarm of amazed glances
given by everybody else who assumed the thing was damaged. As soon as you
stand up and walk away, someone else is guaranteed to take your place, safe
in the knowledge that the chair is harmless.
Another way to solve this is to label the item in advance, to the effect
that its lack-of-use, if this is the case, is due to the fact that its use
is not currently required, rather than the fact that its usefulness is
impeded. However, this method can be flawed if the item is still initially
avoided, as people will regard the sign as untruthful, and treat it as if it
doesn't exist.
The level of avoidance given to any item in this position is increased as
time passes, and eventually, even the bravest of the brave will not go near
it. After a while, the actual owner will be forced to replace it with
something that is perhaps almost exactly the same, but visibly different in
at least one easily identifiable way. This is the only way to cure a
long-term evasion.
In the end, however, it's probably just simpler to obtain two identical
objects wherever possible, because it is unlikely that they will both get
this treatment, and they are also unlikely to be treated differently. You
will see the difference if you replace the lone chair with two.
[1] Some people can be very polite when it comes to it, but in situations
like queues, there's very often a "survival of the fittest" attitude
that would put armies to shame.