Is Imitation really the sincerest form of Flattery?

Today at lunch, I was having a discussion with a co-worker, and now I wonder if he's nutty or if I'm just really out of the loop.

It started when my co-worker complimented my boss' new BBQ grill (they had been at my boss' house the day before for a cook-out). Another co-worker suggested that my boss tell the first guy the make and model so he could get one of his own since he liked it so much. My co-worker looked at her like she was crazy. "You don't do that," he said. "It's rude."

It seems my co-worker and his friends and family think it's rude to get the exact same thing someone else already owns. He began to list examples. He and his friend liked the same car but his friend bought one first so he couldn't get the car he liked. He really liked his friend's t.v., but it would be rude to get the exact same one. His wife has a friend that bought the same exact baby stroller she bought, so now they barely talk. He and his wife have a couple that they "hide" things from when they come to visit, because this couple has a way of always buying the same things they have (same jeans as his wife, same silverware set, etc.). And there are all kinds of "rules" assocated with this: it's o.k. if the same item is an accidental coincidence but can't be done on purpose, and it's o.k. to get the same brand but not the same exact model of something.

Is it just me, or is this the most absurd thing you've ever heard?

Friday night, Crush and I visited some friends of ours, and I admired their newly purchased dining room table. I even asked where they bought it. If some day in the future, when it is time for me to purchase a dining room table, I get one like theirs, is it an insult?

I guess this has never really been an issue for me, because my tastes are often quite different from my friends'. They nicknamed me Picky for a reason, people. I'm guessing my friends don't have the same Pottery Barn Kids Millenium Falcon comforter on their beds, and they probably don't carry a Bono tote bag to work, but if they did, I don't believe I would be insulted.

So is it just me? Do you understand this? If I compliment the pattern on your dishes, will you hide the box they came in so I don't get them too? If I ask where you got a blouse, will you lie and tell me you don't remember so you can keep the shirt to yourself (another tactic my co-worker uses)? Is it rude of me to try and use the same exact paint color in your bedroom when I paint mine? Is it o.k. to copy some things and not others?