Bill-Yuns and Bill-Yuns
June 4th, 2006 by aBhantiarna Solas

I’ve been doing some thinking about consumerism lately. I’ve never been much of a mall rat, but the last two Saturdays I’ve found myself indulging in the great American pasttime – shopping at local malls. I don’t think I’ll do that again for a long time. It’s quite overwhelming.

Last night we actually ate dinner at a mall. We had faux outdoor seating. This meant we were seated outside the restaurant, but inside the mall. So we could see all the mall people walking by. It has long been my habit on such occasions to watch people and think about what they might be thinking. To imagine their lives. I’ve spent lots of time in bus stations watching people walk by and conjuring up lives for them. I listen to bits of conversation and make up the rest. None of this ever stays in my head for very long, but it’s entertainment for the moment. LightHusband observed, “There’s an awful lot of money walking around this mall tonight.” To which I responded, “Yes, a lot of heedless money.”

I’ve been seeing heedless money in many places lately. It was mentioned on one of my favorite television programs. In searching for a missing person, detectives mentioned that authentic Hermes bags sell for $10,000.00! That’s half a car for a pocketbook. There’s nothing in a pocketbook that’s worth that amount of money. I felt guilty for spending $60.00 earlier this year on one. That was the most I’d ever spent on a pocketbook. I still feel guilty.

Then there is this … on eBay. In between fits of laughing I feel like crying. People are willing to bid almost $10,000.00 on this because the money will go to a bird preserve, and children are dying in Africa because they don’t have access to the many inexpensive AIDS drugs that are available. When did birds become more valuable than children?

How heedless will we become?


2 Responses  
  • Scott writes:
    June 5th, 20069:59 amat

    Yeah there are some really rich people in the world. If you think about it…if someone has 10 times the income that you do, then theoretically you could add a zero to whatever you buy and in relation to them (the really rich ones) it would have the same economic affect. Your $40 lunch could turn into a $400 lunch for them, your expensive $400 outfit becomes an ultra expensive $4000 outfit. A house buy may go from 600 thousand to 6 million. In relativity to the incomes, it would feel the same in perspective.

    I can’t relate to spending that much money for things, but only because I realize I’ll never be able to.

    I would, though, like to think if I was that rich that I would help the unfortunate though.

    Here’s a link you might like:
    expensive cottons

    😉 heh heh

           
  • aBhantiarna Solas writes:
    June 5th, 20067:39 pmat

    Okay, so how much would someone have to be making to spend $15K on a PURSE for God’s sake?????? I mean I see your logic up to a certain point. I get that someone making more than I (well, LightHusband, really) would be willing to spend more I on certain items. So by adding zeros onto the end of the income and onto the end of the purchased item you get a rough proportion of how much people are willing to spend on goods that are not absolutely necessary to health and well-being. But I still don’t get $15K on a PURSE … that’s beyond my comprehension … kind of like traveling beyond our solar system with Captain Kirk or something.

           


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