Saturday, October 12, 2013

Ode to Conspicuous Consumerism

(to the tune of "Fly Me to the Moon"

Drive me to the mall,
And let me dance from store to store.
Let me satisfy my lust 
For more and more and more.
In other words, let me spend.
In other words, extend me credit!

Let me fill my arms 
With useless stuff I think I need.
Plastic works like money
To help assuage my greed.
In other words, let me play.
And let me not consider payment.

Make me feel like I am rich
When I am really very poor.
Let me forget about my debt 
As I walk out the door.
In other words, live for now,
Buy and spend like no tomorrow.

Soon the bills will come
And you're going to have to pay.
The minimum won't pay it off 
In ten years and a day.
To creditors, you're now a slave.
if you want stuff, you should save.


i visited our local mall this week. It was raining, and I needed a place to walk. Plus, my wife needed a new battery for her watch and the mall has a kiosk where they can replace watch batteries. We turned in the watch and walked our two miles, watching the people and looking in store windows.  

In contrast to the song, I saw nothing in any store that I thirsted to possess. After completing two miles, we picked up my wife's watch and drove home. Total cost: two-hundred fifty calories each and $20.07 for the watch battery.  

Shopping is not recreation. 

Spending money I don't have for stuff I don't need doesn't appeal to me.

How about you?

Why do you visit the mall?