Temple of Consumerism

Kate had a post about exploring her suburban surroundings the other day, and she referred to the nearby "temple of consumerism." The sheer power of marketing and consumption in the U.S. is something that I've been really glad to be away from the past year and a half. Don't get me wrong: I enjoy shopping. I have frequented said temple of consumerism (read: mall, or "collection" to the truly devoted) and have been excited to worship there on occasion. I'm also a regular visitor to the Mighty Goods blog to see what's hip and interesting on the market these days.

But I'm also sort of proud at how moving here has changed our consumer-oriented lifestyle. If it's not something I want to pay to ship back to the U.S. or deal with reselling or throwing away if we do return, then I won't buy it. It's been liberating. (Let's just not talk about how I've let my appearance go down the pooper.)

Even though I've both indulged and scoffed at all the gross consumerism in the U.S., I found myself completely horrified by one of the recent items posted on Mighty Goods: the Cup-a-Cake Saver. SERIOUSLY. $3 for a piece of plastic to protect a single cupcake. Who buys this sh!t? Who travels regularly with cupcakes one at a time?

Actually, their whole Perfect Picnic Guide is kind of a joke to me. Like living in Europe and riding rustic bicycles to cafes and bakeries and cheese shops, it seems that picnicking frequently enough to warrant buying all this crap is merely a fantasy fed by marketing.

Am I nuts?

Comments

[Kate C.]

I've seen the cup-a-cake saver! The only real use I could think of would be for school lunch and I've been tempted to get it for Kit but decided that she would be just as happy eating at cupcake at home and letting me save the 3$. :)

[krees]

How often does she get cupcakes in her lunch? Lucky kid if it's enough to warrant considering buying one of these things! If we move back to Michigan, will you make lots of cupcakes for me? :)

I confess that I once considered buying a Bananasaver, but that's because I try to take bananas to work pretty frequently.

Maybe I'm just out of touch with cupcake culture in the U.S. And that would be a pity.

[Amanda]

Omg. One of the guys at work has a bananasaver. It's weird.

[beloved]

Oh, that's funny that you mentioned the bananasaver. The first post on my blog way back when was about what a stupid waste of plastic & money that thing is.

I am with you on the rampant consumerism in the U.S. I am finding myself more and more caught up in it. When I lived in Korea, I barely bought anything (aside from the Korean cosmetics I became addicted to) because I wasn't sure where I'd end up. It was really freeing not being weighed down with "stuff".

I find it interesting that mostly everything being sold at yard sales in the States is supposed time-saving/convenience gadgets like those cup-a-cake savers. People really need to think twice before they buy these things.