Why the obsession with removing the plastic from new things?

I seem to have been upsetting quite a few people in the office lately. I took delivery of my new Toschiba M400 in January and to this day have not removed the protective plastic cover from the lid. Then last week, I got my new E600 phone (loving it by the way) and hadn't removed the plastic cover from the screen.

Now when the fellas in my team saw this, it was met with as much wincing as when someone claws their finger nails down a blackboard and their faces all said "It's just plain wrong".

I am disappointed with myself as I succumbed and removed the plastic from my phone screen but I am determiend to stay resolute with the PC.

Gareth offered to pay £50 to charity to yank it off so any other offers? And why is it so annoyign to other people?????